The Throne of Pandemonium
by Chemiclord
Summary: A rebuild of my first story "Finding Doric's Line"; Devona and her team seek a long lost Prince to stabilize the throne of Ascalon... and stumble upon an ancient sleeping terror of Lovecraftian scale.
1. Chapter 1

This story has its origins in an earlier story I wrote for the Guild Hall... but with the release of Nightfall and Eye of the North, I felt compelled to break it completely down to the foundation and rebuild it. This construction bears little resemblance to its forbearer, but I hope it ends up just as good.

We shall see, I suppose.

**The Throne of Pandemonium**

Chapter One

_It is sometimes said that there is no such thing as "pure" fiction; that even the most outrageous children's stories contain within them even the smallest shred of truth. Perhaps that is a fallacy, but in this case, it is all too accurate, and once again, the world teeters in the balance. How many more times can Tyria face the end of days?_

How many more times can I?

This was harder than it looked.

Devona was having an increased respect for the farmers that kept people fed. Her muscles were as sore as if she had just finished a prolonged battle… and this was only the first day of the first planting session of the year.

And to think that the farmers who chose to remain in Ascalon with their king had to work twice as hard and twice as long for half the yield that they received in the North Kryta Province… the warrior had to fight back a sympathetic shudder.

She had been exempt from the farm chores up until this point, having to put her talents to other duties in order to keep the refugee people of Ascalon safe from harm. But with the Abaddon dead, his subordinates either dead or scattered, as well as the Great Destroyer defeated and its minions mindless and hunted… there wasn't much for a warrior to do to ply her trade.

Devona knew she had no one to blame but herself, after all. She was the one who insisted to the elders of the camp she do something useful. And so her hammer became a rake; her sword, a spade. Unfortunately, the pain and fatigue seemed universal.

"That's enough for today, Devona." The farm master declared from behind her, and her fighter instincts nearly introduced her rake to the elderly man's face. "Ya did good for a first day. Get some rest, because we're doing double tomorrow."

"Joy…" She groaned, rolling her shoulders and ignoring the sore protest of her joints, slung her rake and spade up and steadily strode back to the humble settlement.

"Could I have a moment of your time?" A dour voice asked from behind her, causing the warrior to whirl about quickly… only to see nothing but air.

"Down here, bookah."

If the prompting to turn her eyes downward hadn't been enough of a clue, the nickname would have been. Just beneath her normal line of vision, the Asura genius Vekk was standing almost right on her feet, staring up at Devona with uniform black eyes that never seemed to blink quite enough.

"Vekk!" Devona yelped, trying hard to suppress her astonishment. "This is a… pleasant surprise."

"Yes, I'm sure you're positively charmed." The Asura droned. "Please, spare the pleasantries. I am in plentiful amounts of haste."

Devona had mixed feelings about Vekk in the time they allied to fight the Great Destroyer and his minions. On one hand, she liked his "to the point" nature; yet on the other… he could be so damned condescendingly obnoxious.

"Fine, then why are you here?"

"I need an audience with your king. I have the understanding you have the connections to make that possible."

Devona blinked, wondering what would bring the Asura to make such a request. "My king?"

Vekk took a deep breath and sighed. What was it about humans that prompted them to ask stupid questions?

At one time, he had mused that humans spoke without really saying anything because they only had the intellect to either move their mouth or think, and if they stopped talking, their brains would start working… but eventually rejected that thought for being unnecessarily cynical.

"You're Ascalonian, correct?" Vekk finally asked.

Devona nodded slowly. "Yes…"

"Then you should know who I'm talking about… unless the Kingdom of Ascalon has two kings; which I highly doubt from what I know of the land."

"King Adelbern."

"I see you're gathering the thrust of the conversation oh so quickly." Vekk drawled, his eyelids shifting, indicating he was rolling his eyes. "I need to speak with your King Adelbern as promptly as possible on a matter of great importance to both our people. I am told you have the ability to garner such an audience."

"Even if I could… why should I?" The warrior asked, now beginning to sense that in a roundabout way she was being insulted.

"It would be more efficient to tell my story once with all relevant parties present than multiple times to everyone individually. I would hope in our time as allies you would have learned that I am not one to make such bold requests for trivial reasons." The Asura straightened in a vain attempt to make himself look taller, and repeated, "I trust I can count on your assistance in this matter."

Devona shook her head. "I think you overvalue my worth in the King's eyes. I was a captain in his military, nothing more."

"If by 'nothing more', you mean the consort and betro…"

Vekk felt Devona's hand slap over his mouth, and his instincts kicked in, sinking his small yet dagger sharp teeth into the flesh.

The warrior yelped, and yanked her hand away. "You little beast!" She snarled, then noticed that Vekk was no longer paying attention to her; the Asura spitting and hacking while smacking his lips distastefully.

"That was vile." He complained between spasms. "How do you humans bear being next to each other? What a horrible, putrid, and hideous…. Ugh! It'll take me a week to wash the taste out of my mouth."

"How in Grenth's name did you know?" She demanded before nursing the now bleeding bite marks on her hand.

Vekk turned his gaze upward again. "I have my ways. The Asura may have been hidden, but we make it our habit of knowing things."

"Nonetheless, that was a long time ago." Devona answered, "And I'd rather you and your kin to not start spreading long dead news about. It means nothing anymore."

"You sound so certain…"

At that moment, the farm master approached at a slow jog from the fields. "I heard a scream." He said, his pitchfork at the ready and his eyes scanning for any threat, yet seemingly oblivious to Vekk as the old man's eyes passed over three times. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, dear sir." Vekk began, a mischievous grin beginning to spread across his face as he again looked up at Devona. The warrior caught the expression, and scowled as the Asura continued, "She was just a little surprised by my appearance. However, since you are here, I suppose that I should tell you that Devona is…"

"… Taking Vekk here to Ascalon for an important meeting with King Adelbern." the warrior finished hastily, inwardly furious that she had been… guided… into that particular answer. "I'm afraid that it must take priority, and I will not be able to assist tomorrow with the harvest."

The old farmer exhaled. "No offense, but you won't exactly be missed. Half your load had to be discarded because you plucked it wrong. Go play hero… I know you're good at that."

Vekk started to chuckle, but Devona's glare quickly silenced him. "Thank you, Farm Master Howell." She said with a bow, even as her pride stung from being so casually dismissed by that dirty, simple old man. Vekk followed suit, then took stride behind Devona, having to pick his pace to a run occasionally to keep up with the human's longer legs.

Nonetheless, it didn't stop him from uttering cheerfully, "I do so love it when a plan comes together."

* * * * *

When Devona was traveling and fighting whatever force of evil came her way, all she could think about was a time where she could be at peace and live a "normal" life.

And yet, after one month of that "normal" life, she couldn't help but notice the spring in her step as she prepared for traveling once again.

"Are you ready yet?" Vekk asked from outside Devona's hut, his voice reflecting impatience.

"Gods save you, Vekk. I've only been in here ten minutes." She shouted back. On second thought, traveling with that Asura was quickly draining her excitement.

"Well, that's ten minutes of my life wasted then. However, I wasn't talking to you."

Devona's eyebrows turned downward, and her mind shifted in reverse. Hastily snapping her backpack shut and slinging it over her right shoulder, she took three strides to the door, flung it open, and began to ask, "Then who…?"

"You were going to go on a nice vacation, and you didn't invite us?" Cynn's teasing voice reflected her haughty posture. "We're hurt."

"Cynn! You can't travel in your condition!" Devona protested. Being with child was a great responsibility not to be risked, and the road to Ascalon was perilous at the best of times, ironically much worse now then ever before since the Deldrimor abandoned their kingdom in the Shiverpeaks.

"I'm not giving birth tomorrow, for the gods sake." Cynn answered with a roll of her eyes. "I've already had this fight with Mhenlo, and I'm not going through it again."

"Yes, please… don't go through it again." Mhenlo said with a forlorn groan.

"Agreed, you wouldn't want Cynn doing to your home what she did to theirs during their… disagreement." Aiden answered. "After that, the village elders were about to demand Cynn leave before she set the whole settlement ablaze."

Cynn grunted in disdain. "You light a few crows on fire to make a point, and people think you're a menace. Isn't that what the farmers _want_ anyway? Besides, _I_ wasn't the one that animated their skeletons and sent them into the settlement center. That was Eve's doing."

"The screams were delightful… although I have to give credit to Adam. It was his idea, not mine." The necromancer said with a voice that was bordering on wistful.

"At any rate, soon after our decision was made for us. The elders asked us none too politely if we could find somewhere more useful to be." Mhenlo finished with a defeated sag of his shoulders.

Devona began to understand why the group was being asked to accompany her on her journey; the settlement wanted to get them out of the vicinity before they burned it to the ground.

"If it assuages your concerns any, my travel plans include an Asura Gate to just underneath what was once Thunderhead Keep." Vekk added. "It will cut our travel time immensely."

The young warrior sighed in surrender. "I suppose there's nothing to do about it, is there? It'll be like old times… for good or for ill."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The silence of Thunderhead Keep was unnerving, to say the least.

Not even two months ago, this dwarven stronghold was bustling with activity… craftsmen peddling their wares, large congregations milling about on their business within the capital of the Deldrimor people.

And now… it was a ghost town, already beginning to show signs of its neglect, as the harsh environment of the Shiverpeaks began to sink its icy talons into the one proud fortress. The tall fire beacons now were unlit, one of them toppled perhaps by the occasional gale force gusts that ripped through the valley in which Thunderhead Keep lay. Towering drifts of snow piled to the very top of its stone walls, and the pathways were more than occasionally covered with treacherous layers of near invisible ice.

A statue to King Jalis Ironhammer was also toppled, but from investigation, it appeared to have been done by "intelligent" hands, likely looters hoping to spirit off with what was already spreading to legendary status of a veritable king's fortune hidden somewhere in the keep. It saddened Devona to see the decay and desecration of the once mighty stalwart, the warrior remembering how it had stood triumphant over the best efforts of the Stone Summit, the White Mantle, and the enigmatic Mursaat.

Only to fall to the one force no mortal agency could be victorious against… time.

"Now here is where the dangers begin." Vekk said. "Scouts report that the remains of the Stone Summit now roam these lands, and the wild beasts no longer fear what were once relatively safe areas of dwarven settlement."

"And you are sure there were no closer gates to Ascalon?" Devona asked warily.

"I maintained the entire gate system, bookah. Trust me, I would know." Vekk answered. "Now you just swing your sword pointy end first at any mean looking creatures, and leave the thinking to me, okay? I can assure you I am much more qualified."

"Asura, unless you want a mean-spirited lobotomy, you will keep your insults to yourself."

"Yes, I'm sure that inter-racial incident will go over real well." Vekk answered, unconcerned. "How a dignified hero of the Asuran people was assaulted by the consor…"

Contrary to what Vekk might have thought, Devona was more than capable of learning, as this time, her hand circled around the Asuran elementalist's throat. She had near effortlessly picked the small being off the ground before Mhenlo and Aidan could break the two up.

"Devona, I am not sure what has you on such edge, but now is not the time or place. Vekk is right that any squabbling that led to harm would reflect badly on you and the nation of Ascalon as a whole. And may I remind you that Ascalon needs all the friends we can get right now."

Sensing that the warrior was not particularly listening to his line of reason, Aidan stepped in. "Mhenlo, tend to Vekk, and make sure he doesn't irritate your wife. I suspect she would care little of Ascalon's image in the Asuran eye. Devona, walk with me."

The ranger so rarely gave orders that Devona felt compelled to obey before she even realized she was being commanded, but by that time the two were well out of earshot.

"I'm curious how Vekk learned of that tidbit." The ranger mused.

"What tidbit?" Devona said with far less conviction than she wanted.

"I scouted for King Adelbern while you were still learning how to swing your hammer." Aidan answered. "I know well of his connection to Ascalon's Chosen, and the regard he held your father in… as well as the arrangement that was made just before your father's death."

"You…" She began, but let the accusation die upon the wind that was starting to pick up. "That was a long time ago. It holds no bearing anymore, and I grow weary of Vekk holding it above my head. It doesn't matter… it's all irrelevant."

"Obviously it does matter, but I can understand why." Aidan answered. "It must wound your pride to think what others will think of your rise through the ranks if they knew that you…"

"Hail! What brings you to these forsaken lands?" A voice suddenly burst from the distance, startling Aidan from whatever he was about to say, as well as drawing the attention of the rest of the group.

"Jora!" Aidan shouted, his previous thought completely forgotten, "I should ask you what brings you this far south!"

The assembly met within the town so as to continue the questions and answers in a more comfortable volume, taking a seat in a circle around Aiden who was dutifully building a fire to warm what he referred to as "weary flesh and bones."

"I'm surprised that you felt to need to ask my business." Jora declared with a grin. "I am on a hunt, obviously… and with these lands now untamed, the opportunities for newer challenges and prey should be abundant."

The fire now lit, Aidan took a seat next to Vekk, who was sitting next to Jora. Devona found herself amused by the colossal size difference between the towering Norn and the diminutive Asura. Vekk wouldn't have even been able to look Jora in the eye had he been standing on his toes… and it eased her mind to some degree to see Vekk dwarfed in such a fashion, like he had been belittled without him even noticing.

She was so amused in fact, that she never realized the conversation had turned to her and her traveling party until Cynn whistled, and asked, "Yes, Devona, why _are_ we escorting Vekk to Ascalon anyway?"

Devona started, and gestured dismissively to the Asura. "Ask him."

"I merely wish to meet your king on business that I hope will be beneficial for both his people and mine. I'd rather not waste your ears with a story you will simply hear again when we make audience with the venerable monarch."

"Well, I likely will not hear the story." Jora noted astutely.

"You're welcome to join us if it intrigues you to such a degree." Vekk answered unrelentingly. "As I said, we probably don't have much time to waste. Even resting here is probably ill-advised."

"That's not the first time you've stated you're in haste." Devona said, her eyes narrowing. "Why are you in such a hurry to reach Ascalon?"

Vekk blinked, as if he had just been taken aback by Devona's words. "You mean… you don't know?"

"Know what?" Mhenlo queried.

Vekk slapped his forehead, and groaned, "Curse me for an apprentice, of course you wouldn't know. The information line is considerably slower among humans than it is once it reaches Asuran hands. My deepest apologies, you must have thought me an incorrigible lout thus far."

"Then out with it!" Cynn snarled. "For someone who claims not to waste time, you sure take forever to get to the point."

"News coming out of the Ascalon border is that King Adelbern has gone gravely ill. I suppose it shouldn't be terribly surprising, considering that the king is nearing his eighth decade, and most humans rarely live to see their sixth. Nonetheless, the opinion coming from my sources is that he probably doesn't have much longer to live."

The news staggered Devona, even though she acknowledged she shouldn't be terribly surprised. King Adelbern was not a young man even when his son Rurik had led the refugees across the Shiverpeaks to Kryta; and the trials and hardships since could only have accelerated the years beleaguering his aging bones.

"And you would like to get whatever business you have completed before he dies and potentially starts a troublesome fight for succession." Cynn added. "After all, Barradin is not young himself, and has no heirs either at this point."

"Actually, I hold hope that my arrangement will prevent such a gridlock." Vekk replied cryptically, and that once again drew Devona's gaze. "And why I hope the king will be receptive to my offer."

The Asura and the human shared a long, silent conversation with their eyes as Devona's mind spun with the consequences of what the Asura was saying. Rurik was dead… Devona had seen the brash yet good-hearted prince slain right in these same mountains they now sat within. She had also been present for the wake of Princess Elana, Adelbern's only daughter, who had been one of many victims of the Searing.

That only left… no… that wasn't possible… was it?

"I see the warrior now understands the reason for my haste... and I promise answers will come for the rest of you when we are safely at our destination." Vekk finally spoke. "I do apologize if it seems I am being rude, my Norn friend, but we really must continue our journey. I wish you luck in whatever you hunt. May it be suitable for your station and your honor."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

King Adelbern pushed aside the attendant that was trying to adjust the monarch's cloak with all the force his treasonous body could muster. "I am not a total invalid, young man." He said forcefully, making the necessary shift despite his left arm protesting painfully to the movement.

To be honest, Adelbern rarely dressed up in his full regalia as of late… the effort to do so was rarely worth it, and only seemed to make his illness worse. But this request for his summons he sensed would be different.

Devona rarely ever invoked a request to speak with him in an official audience; in fact, she had never done so as far as he could remember. On one hand, it somewhat hurt him that she gave him such a wide berth. He remembered a time when she was barely up to his knee, blissfully unaware that she stood next to royalty, gleefully showing him whatever triumph she had experienced in the garden or the stream behind her parent's homestead while her mother looked on in horror and her father laughed heartily.

On the other hand, he understood her reasons. Her father had raised her to be proud and independent, making her way through life on her own merits. It would not have been worthy of her that people might think her almost prodigal rise through the ranks of the military was because of the connections she had with the ruler of the land.

But she was asking for his presence now, and that alone would have made all the pain the illness racking his body could bring to bear. He had made a promise to Mordakai all those years ago that he would take care of Devona if anything were to happen. Anything the young lady wished at this point would be hers.

* * * * *

Devona felt she had been prepared for the knowledge that the King of Ascalon was in grave health, but she had been wrong, and the sight of him as he emerged from the back hall of the throne room nearly brought her to tears.

Even at sixty, King Adelbern had been an inspiring presence, barrel-chested with arms that were more like tree trunks than anything human, seeming to defy Grenth himself with his vitality and seemingly endless reserves of power.

Now, he looked more like something left to wither on a vine. His arms trembled as he slowly lowered himself into the gold and velvet throne, and she was almost certain he had grunted in pain when his back met the backing of the seat. Her companions were in a similar state of disbelief, not even sure they wanted to acknowledge this man before them was the monarch of their homeland.

Even his voice, once booming and demanding respect and obedience the moment it essayed had been strangled by the disease that had desecrated his body. He coughed violently before he could even utter his first words, angrily pushing away the efforts of the steward at his side as he regained the command of his lungs.

"Devona, my dear… I am sorry you have to see me like this." The once mighty king forced out.

"Your highness, you look as stout as ever." She replied with a wan smile.

"My sight may have grown feeble, but I know yours is as sharp as a keen bird of prey. Do not insult me with platitudes." The king answered, for a moment, recapturing his fiery spirit. "I am ill, I know it, and you all know it."

His features softened despite the pain that was building within him the longer he stood anywhere resembling upright. "It's been many years since I last spoke to you, Captain Devona. Tell me what it is you require."

"Actually, it is not me that needed to see you, your highness." Devona answered sheepishly, suddenly feeling guilty that she had roused the obviously ailing man from his rest. "I present to you Vekk, of the Asura. He was the one that needed to speak with you."

"The Asura?" King Adelbern asked rhetorically squinting as Vekk slowly stepped forward, his resigned sigh only adding to Devona's discomfort. "Yes, my scouts have told me of a new race of beings coming up from the depths of the earth, followed by the Destroyers that heralded the disappearance of the dwarves."

Another series of painful coughs racked the proud monarch, and this time he didn't have the strength to refuse aid, the almost sinfully young steward helping him upright, and offering what Devona guessed was some form of restorative drink from a thick mug.

"Please, your highness… it will help." The young man pleaded, moments later satisfied that the king had done as requested.

"Your eminence, had I known your condition was this severe, I would not have troubled you." Vekk said with a sincerity that surprised Devona. "I will also strive to make my tale as swift as possible."

"My health should not deter you from business you deem important, sir." Adelbern replied, successfully fighting back another crippling cough. "Do not shorten important details for the sake of my comfort."

"As you wish, your excellence." Vekk affirmed with another deep and respectful bow. Straightening, the Asura seemed uncertain as just where to begin, but once he again locked eyes with the battered monarch, the aged king's eyes defiant and proud, he knew just how to proceed.

"My people at one time flourished under the lands you humans ruled. We had cities and academies all throughout the deeps of Tyria… until the Destroyers rose up and ran us from our homes. With that menace abated, my people seek to reclaim whatever we can of our empire. Our history and knowledge are dear to us, and whatever we can salvage, we will."

"A noble exploit, sir." Adelbern acknowledged.

"One such citadel of knowledge resided underneath your lands; in fact mere miles from this grand capital of Rin, your eminence. My people called it Atal Ra; "The Rising Sun" in your language. Within it, the legendary S'sleth, who the surface peoples call The Forgotten, as I understand, maintained the highest honor for those who wished to be premier among our people in ways of learning."

"I myself was taught in those grand halls… floors of gold, tablets filled with knowledge as old as the birth of the gods themselves, wondrous devices that showed us things that would strain your mind just to comprehend their existence." Vekk intoned, his passion for the place clear to anyone who could hear. "When the Destroyers overwhelmed our Center Transfer Chamber, we feared and assumed it overrun and obliterated like all the other waypoints in our transportation network."

"I do not entirely understand your words, sir… but I think I do understand the general meaning. I'm guessing that your fears were proven untrue?"

Vekk smiled approvingly. "Yes, your excellence. My people half of one month ago received a blessed communication from Atal Ra. The academy had been besieged, and had been damaged, but it still stood… they had held off the Destroyers long enough for the combined might of the surface world to break the Destroyer's grasp."

"And you are here to see me… why?" Adelbern then queried, taking another sip of his mug in anticipation of another burst from his protesting lungs. "If the Destroyers are broken, I don't see why you can't travel the way you always did to the grand halls you speak of."

"While the Destroyers are broken, many still apparently linger mindlessly within the chamber that Atal Ra resides. In addition, the depths of Tyria are no terribly stable since the Destroyer invasion. Even if we wanted to reconnect the gates, the Central Transfer Station will likely completely collapse within the year."

"This is where we need your help, your excellence." Vekk said nervously. "My people do not have the means or ability to mount an offensive to reclaim Atal Ra. We barely have said means to mobilize the drilling team that will clear a physical path to the academy. I humbly ask in the name of friendship between our peoples that you assist us in our efforts to regain the jewel of our heritage."

"You ask me to put Ascalonian lives in your hands, for nothing more than the spirit of friendship?" King Adelbern asked. "I may be old, and I may indulge in opening alliances with new nations, but I did not become king to throw away the lives of my people, people who have families and a heritage of their own."

"I understand that, your eminence." Vekk answered. "But I think there is something down in Atal Ra that will interest you greatly."

"What do you mean?" The king demanded, "Speak!" The shouted command caused him to bend over temporarily, but he reassumed his stance mere seconds later.

The Asura turned his attention towards the window of the palace, where the sun was slowly lowering towards the horizon. Vekk found nature's analogy quite fitting. As the sun set on one day, it would soon rise again brightly and promising a new one.

"You have no heirs, am I correct?"

"What business is that of yours?" The king retorted.

Vekk took a deep breath. "I never thought I'd be having this discussion eight years ago. At that time, my people were a secretive lot. Not proudly, I'll admit that most from the surface that stumbled upon us were killed. Fortunately, the denizens of Atal Ra were more forgiving, and those that came upon our great academy were recruited as drudges or manual labor, never to return to their homes. Perhaps it was cruel, but we shamefully figured our methods were better than death."

Another deep breath prompted his continuance. "I told you that quick story to tell you this one. About a month before the event known as the Searing, one man came upon an old and to our shame overlooked Gate within the southern barrier mountains of Ascalon. To our amazement, he somehow managed to activate said gate, and appear within Atal Ra itself. This fascinated us Asura, especially; we had always figured that humans were of extremely limited intelligence. But this man; in time, he proved to be near… no, more than our equal in intellect. His absorbed the knowledge of Atal Ra with all the speed and retention of the best my race could offer."

"When the Destroyers attacked, it turned out this human was the one who mustered and commanded the academy's defense. In the face of numbers and tenacity that should have easily rolled any resistance, he managed to lead the survivors to victory. Now he heads what remains of the academy itself, it appears… much to the chagrin of many of my peers."

Vekk once more turned his gaze upon King Adelbern, and the Asura could see the brimming realization coming to bear within the frail monarch, and the faintest glimmer of hope rekindled within the old man's spirit. "You should know this man, my excellence. Perhaps you assumed him dead, killed by the same Searing that killed your daughter and led to the death of your firstborn. I am here to tell you that is false. Coran, son of Adelbern, Prince of Ascalon, still lives among the Asura and S'sleth survivors of Atal Ra."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Mhenlo had been slightly surprised to see Cynn break down shortly after the King called the audience closed in order to call the Lords and Dukes of Ascalon together to discuss the news Vekk had brought from underneath their feet.

His wife was normally so flippantly cavalier about things, and even when something did effect her, she hid it well. So, when she followed her emotional catharsis with a swift dash down the halls of Rin's palace, he was so taken aback that he didn't respond as quickly as he probably should have.

That caused him to momentarily lose sight of his dear elementalist, eventually finding her once again with the help of several palace guards who helpfully pointed the way. She had finally stopped in the east wing, at an exterior hall that faced where the sun had just set, bringing with it the dusk of approaching night.

"Cynn…" Mhenlo began warily. He knew how violently emotional some women could get during pregnancy, and had to admit he had a slight apprehension about the wrath that could be unleashed within his occasionally volatile wife.

She didn't look at him, her eyes cast downward to where sky met land at the horizon. "I remember the first time in my life the king came to Surmia. I don't think in the fifteen years from that point, he ever really changed in my eyes. I guess… I guess he was immortal to me or something."

Cynn choked back a sob, "But… to see him so frail… so weak… I guess I never realized that's the sort of thing that happens… when you get… old."

Mhenlo's arm worked around the sorrowed elementalist as she continued to ramble, "Is our child one day going to look at me… old and wrinkled and weak and pitiful? What is he or she going to think when that day comes? When I'm old and about to die?"

"Our child will think that he or she had a lucky life." Mhenlo answered. "Age and death happen; and they happen to everyone." His mouth then tugged upward, "Is that what was bothering you? That one day you'll look old?"

Cynn huffed. "And what about it? Maybe I don't want to look like some dehydrated fruit."

Mhenlo gently cupped her cheek. "I'm afraid that's rather inevitable, my love. But it won't change how I feel about you."

"Sure it will." Cynn glowered. "You'll just be so worn down yourself that you won't care."

The monk gently kissed the side of her mouth. "Well, I suppose we shall see about that, shall we?"

* * * * *

"You're certain about this, Vekk?" Devona asked warily, "I do not want the king's hopes raised over nothing."

The warrior and the Asuran Elementalist were just outside the now closed doors of the throne room, Devona deciding not to wait any further before beginning her own private interrogation.

"I'm well familiar with Coran's voice, bookah." Vekk replied. "And the other Asurans would never have acknowledged any other human as running Atal Ra. Don't worry, Devona, your prince was alive and well as late as one week prior when we received the message in Rata Sum."

With a smug grin, he added, "And why do I get the feeling the king's hopes is secondary in your mind?"

"I'm of secondary mind to throttle you, midget." Devona snarled, "And let me promise you that this better not be some trick to get humans to do your dirty work for you. If it proves to be, you better _pray_ the king's men find you before I do."

"My father was fond of that trick, a trait I do not share." Vekk responded, his tone grave. "I would recommend you don't group me with my kin's somewhat… delegating manner. I personally find such tactics insulting, for both parties involved. It implies us Asura are incapable of handling our own tasks, which reflects poorly on how we've survived long before we approached the surface world."

Devona blinked, as if she was finally coming to grip with Vekk's news. "Coran… really _is_ down there."

"I'm glad you're catching up." Vekk droned. "For the last forsaken time; yes, Prince Coran really did survive all these years. Yes, he really lives among my people in Atal Ra. I don't know how many more times I should have to explain all these things."

"Ascalon has been a land without hope for some time." Aidan noted, slipping into the discussion from behind Devona. "Even if just a twinkle, the idea that royal line continues offers some small degree of hope."

Vekk's eyes turned up curiously towards the ranger. "Well, I suppose we'll see about that…"

* * * * *

It had seemed like just yesterday that Vekk had delivered the news that Coran still lived when the Asura led the massive drilling device they would use to bore into the Atal Ra chamber while the Ascalon Guard stood ready to follow and assist in securing the area.

Wait… that _had_ been yesterday.

Normally known for it's degree of gridlock in making any decision, the Dukes and Lords of Ascalon immediately gave their blessing and whatever manpower they could to King Adelbern, and the moment that the king declared the Asura could proceed with their plan, the machinating species was wheeling in bits and pieces of the drill and various other devices that served no discernable purpose save to them.

The Asura had also worked tirelessly through the previous night to bring the drill to "operational status", much to the dismay of the populous of Ascalon City, which was less than one mile from the proposed site for the drilling. Devona felt they really didn't have much room to complain… after all, they hadn't been a mere hundred feet from the non-stop construction.

So why was she so energized? Devona had to fight the urge to smack a few Asuran heads together and order them to get that spiraling mess of metal digging into the earth. Good grief… she should not be acting this way. Even if Prince Coran still lived… all that was years ago… hell, she might not even recognize him.

She sighed. Of course she'd recognize him. He'd be like Norn standing in a group of dwarves… it'd be rather obvious. But still… eight years… would Coran even remotely resemble the man just into adulthood that she remembered? And why did it even matter? Gods save her, her thoughts were running wild like she was a teenager again.

"Alright, at the ready, ladies and gentlemen, we're starting up the drill." Vekk declared, his voice carrying surprisingly well for such a small frame. "Keep twenty meters back at all times to let debris settle, but other than that, be prepared to come out swinging the moment we enter the chamber. There's no telling what'll be waiting for us."

Devona allowed that order to clear her head. Finally, something she understood, something that wasn't confusing, something that didn't require deep introspection and exploring supposedly long dead feelings. Idiot, meet hammer. Hammer, idiot. Simple, concise, and clear…

… She liked that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Devona couldn't hear a word Aiden was saying, and he was standing right at her shoulder. The massive drill boring through the hard bedrock underneath Ascalon was making quite a violent racket, squealing, grinding, shuddering, and shaking through the time-hardened earth, and making any semblance of conversation impossible.

That didn't seem to stop the ranger from trying, as his lips kept moving, his face visibly reddening from his exertions despite the dim light being provided by the Asuran Recovery Krewe that was mingled about the human contingent escorting them.

"What? I can't understand you!" She yelled back, even as she knew that he had probably about as much chance of hearing her as she did hearing him.

Then with an abrupt whirr, the laboring machine seemed to ease, and the reason why was revealed moments later as a rush of air flooded the bored tunnel, and the illumination of light appeared in the cracks between earth and machine. The cracks widened, and soon the drill emerged fully into the cavern of the Atal Ra academy, and was quickly pulled to a stop and silence.

"I was trying to ask you how much further you thought we had to go." Aiden said. "But I suppose that's a rather moot point now, isn't it?"

"Okay, you humans can now light your torches if you so please, but as you can see, there should be ample lighting here for even your kind." One of the Recovery Krewe members grumbled bitterly.

Devona supposed the irritated Asura had good reason to be. On two separate occasions, members of the Ascalon militia had complained that the tunnel was too dark, and sought to ignite their torches… and nearly setting off small pockets of invisible gas that had leaked from the earth. If not for the Asurans quick actions to stop such efforts, the mission might have met a tragically quick end.

"That's enough Kreweman." Vekk chided, climbing out of the cockpit of the drill before raising his voice to address the small army that had now entered the chamber. "I trust you remember your team assignments and your patrol routes. Kill any Destroyer on sight, and report in any survivors you find. Work quickly. Work efficiently. Move out!"

He didn't even pause to see if the teams did indeed understand what they were assigned to do, shuffling right up to Devona's feet and asking, "You and your friends ready to go, bookah?"

Devona took a deep breath, and replied, "I do know what that means. You realize that, right?"

"It's why I call you that… bookah." The Asura said with a toothy grin.

Devona's fists clenched, and her lips and eyes pursed tightly. She reminded herself not to give Vekk the pleasure of knowing that he was infuriating her… it would only encourage him. Let him have his fun, and eventually he'll get bored and start aggravating someone else. Hopefully Cynn… at least then everyone would learn what barbequed Asura looks like.

Her ire quelled, Devona took step, forcing herself to remain focused on the task at hand. Ahead of them, the shimmering citadel that was Atal Ra emerged from over the rise overlooking the drill site, and the warrior stopped for a moment in awe.

"Yes, it is quite a sight, isn't it?" Vekk asked rhetorically.

Even with the damage readily apparent to the academy's west side, the main complex of Atal Ra was indeed a vision unlike anything Devona could readily remember. The exterior wall of drab earth blocked from sight most of what was on the ground level, but the towers, four visible with curved tapered walls of golden color that shimmered from the artificial lighting in the cavern flanked a angular central tower of a gleaming white silver, joined by white, immaculately cleaned covered bridges between all.

Bright beams of light shot upward from behind the earthen barricade towards the top of the central tower, where the top tiles were clearly of some sort of mirrored material that reflected said light through the cavern in a soft uniform glow.

"It's… beautiful." Devona agreed.

An inhuman roar ended any distracted thoughts, and Devona's head jerked to the sound of the noise to her west… in what appeared to be a stampede of at least twenty Destroyers. Devona quickly stepped between the charging horde and her companions, sensing Cynn take three steps backward off her right shoulder as Aiden did the same to her left. Eve, Mhenlo, and the Asuran support personnel formed the back flank with Vekk in the center, who was apparently trying to communicate with the other Krewes.

"This is Recovery Krewe Alpha One, we have a plethora of Destroyers bearing down fast at coordinates -2.21, 0.77; requesting backup as soon as Asuraly possible. Out!"

Of course, said request would have been extremely late in coming, as by the time Vekk had ended his plea, the infernal creatures were nearly on top of them. Devona successfully deflected and knocked the lead beast to the earth, but was promptly bowled over by the Destroyer directly behind it. She braced herself to fight out from under the creature, but it didn't follow it's attack, instead nearly stepping on her skull in it's mad dash ahead.

Wherever these monsters were going, it clearly had nothing to do with the Recovery Krewe, as Cynn found out when the Destroyer she immolated didn't even pause to give her passing attention, mindlessly continuing its charge through the party followed by its kin. The rear ranks of the Krewe managed to dive or scurry out of the stampede's path, but for Devona, it was a mad scramble and roll to avoid the pounding hooves or feet or whatever they were from the Destroyers as they rushed past the now hopelessly broken formation of humans and Asura.

The stampede fully passed by in a mere handful of seconds, and after the chaos, Devona had to admit she was astonished she merely suffered some scrapes and a rather nasty gash to her forehead, which Mhenlo dutifully healed within seconds.

"Okay… those Destroyers were running away from something." Devona noted, somewhat to the obvious. "But what?"

The Krewe could barely manage to sort out just who was who, let alone answer the question, when another beast, this one more kin to the Charr race, also rushed past without even a cursory glance at the Krewe. It was holding some manner of shiny, metallic device with a series of flickering lights around a rectangular base with a small slightly bowl-shaped disc protruding from the top.

"Okay… just to make sure I'm not going mad…" Cynn began, pointing in the direction that the peculiar procession had departed. "Everyone else saw a Charr run thataway, right?"

"That appeared to be a sonic resonator…" Vekk said. "But would that have caused the Destroyers' flight?"

Further musing on the issue ended swiftly when the Destroyer Devona had taken down bounced to its feet with one powerful burst of strength, and roared in challenge at the warrior that had attacked it. Devona started to make a swing with her hammer, but knew she wouldn't be fast enough, nor would any of her allies be able to act before its blow landed…

But as a potentially fatal attack seemed imminent, instead there was a crackle of electricity, and a sharp lance of energy struck the Destroyer in the side of the head, and caused the hard earthen carapace to crack and shatter slightly, again knocking the monster off balance, and giving Devona the opportunity to deliver the killing blow across what remained of the creature's skull.

It hadn't even crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud before the Krewe turned their attention to the source of the attack. A lone slender human figure stood in white regalia armor and gold trim of Istani design. On his left arm was attached a long, slender golden shield etched with a relief of a figure Devona couldn't readily discern, the right propping a menacing silver spear haft on his shoulder, a pronged three barbed steel spear head adorning the front end and two red fletching fins on the rear.

The armor was definitely new… but the facial features were surprisingly familiar, especially when his eyes met Devona's, and melted into the surprise she no doubt was sharing.

His shield and spear dropped, completely forgotten, Devona following suit with her hammer as both dashed across the distance separating them, meeting in a warm, plastering embrace.

"Coran… you have no idea how relieved I am to see you again." Devona whispered into his ear, "It's been a very long time."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The heartfelt reunion was interrupted by a spontaneous explosion, and an eruption of flame from behind the Krewe that reached and spread across the ceiling of the cavern.

Coran's head turned upwards towards the pillar of fire, and noted, "Hmmm… looks like Yue packed a few extra charges in that one. She knows better than that." Then looking back down on Devona, and taking a moment to register the fact that he was actually taller than she was added, "You and your friends very nearly ruined our little wrangling operation there."

The warrior's lower jaw dropped slightly. "It's not like we knew what was going on!"

He grinned. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. Fortunately, the Destroyers were more interested in getting away from the ultrasonic waves than trying to chomp on some warm, fleshy bodies."

"So, that was a sonic resonator." Vekk noted.

Coran swiftly parted from Devona, "Well, well… if it isn't Gadd's own failure of his reproductive organs. Good to see you again."

Devona smirked when the noted the Asura cringe, and filed that jab away for potential use later. She began to wonder what other ammunition Coran could give her as he began chatting away with Vekk, using terms and slang that might as well have been an entirely different language.

"So, a frequency of positive 117.33 wpm is painful to the Destroyer's sense of hearing? Fascinating." Vekk said, rubbing his chin. "How did you discover that?"

"Like many profound discoveries, actually… completely by accident." Coran admitted, "The Destroyers had breached the west barricade, and Yue started fiddling with the communications tower in an attempt to get some sort of emergency broadcast out to the rest of the Asura. She happened to make one broadcast and the Destroyers fell over one another trying to get away from the tower's immediate vicinity. It took a while, but I figured out just what the beasts were reacting to, and had the Mechanical Krewe modify any sound producing device they could to emit that frequency. That happenstance was the primary reason we managed to hold out against their siege." He then paused, and noted, "Speaking of Yue, she normally would have reported in by now. Where did she go?"

"Right behind you."

It was as if the woman in Vanguard assassin armor had materialized behind Coran… no one in the Krewe would have been able to honestly say they had seen her coming or even recognized her existence up until she had spoken.

Nonetheless, the prince himself was apparently well used to her manner of appearance, as he didn't even flinch. "I trust the Destroyers we herded were taken care of? You certainly used enough charges to take out a small army."

Yue shrugged. "I had some extra. Why not use them?"

"Those aren't easy to make, I'll have you know."

"Couldn't tell from the way they're tumbling off the manufacturing line." She responded unapologetically. "Ah, Grazz, there you are. I hope you didn't scratch the resonator's casing. Coran's feeling the strain of production costs again."

The prince rolled his eyes. "Right..." He droned, and approached the Charr that had joined the gathering. He did give said device the once over however, causing Yue to chortle audibly.

Any retort he might have had was cut off by Cynn asking a question that had slowly been filtering into many of the Krewe's mind. "May someone explain to me how a prince, an Ebon Vanguard Assassin, and a Charr wound up working together in an Asuran city?"

"That's a story that's probably best suited for more comfortable environs, my lady." Coran answered, "Come… the midday meal is approaching anyway, and good company and pleasant discussion should make the somewhat meager fare more appealing."

* * * * *

The midday meal wasn't what Devona would consider "meager", but she also figured that she wasn't thinking in terms of royalty and scholars, who would probably be more accustomed to far more lavish delicacies.

"Alright, I believe we had left off with the lady Cynn asking how a Charr and an assassin came into the company I keep." Coran said, possibly more to remind himself more than anyone. "Well, let's see… I met Grazz during an archeological foray I took north of the wall about, goodness, that was over a decade ago by now wasn't it? Anyway, I was escorted by a protection detail towards the Eastern ridge mountains, where I was told some remains of the Giganticus Lupicus could be found. That turned out to be a wasted effort, but I did gain a nice ally and informant in the process."

Coran's eyes drifted across to the Charr. "Grazz Flamemane was a young shaman adept at the time, but unlike most of his kin, he found the sophistication of the human race to the south intriguing… a most refreshing attitude really… and thought there was much both races could learn from each other. After some understandable confusion and threats of violence, rational heads prevailed and a deal was struck. He'd be my eyes within the Charr lands, and I would teach him, specifically in our medical methods for general health and illness when a healer was not readily available. The Charr's knowledge in simple injury treatment was dreadfully crude, for example."

"I'm… honestly… astonished you'd agree to assist a Charr in any manner." Aidan said after swallowing a bite of overly dry poultry. "I mean, considering your family history."

"I shall admit; I wasn't particularly enamored with the idea at first myself." The prince acknowledged. "But it seemed better to give Grazz a chance than have him mercilessly slaughtered when he was alone and offering himself defenselessly at my feet. In the end, the deal was quite beneficial for both sides. He never once betrayed my trust, and much of his information on Charr movements was invaluable in keeping their offensive stalled as long as it was."

"Obviously not well enough to stall the Searing." Cynn groused.

Coran's head dropped, and for a moment, he seemed genuinely wounded by those words. "Yes… obviously not well enough, was it?"

"And you say all you wanted was medical knowledge?" Mhenlo queried of the Charr, more to change the topic than any curiosity. Grazz jostled when he realized the monk was speaking to him. "I am glad to hear there are some among your people who seek to preserve life than take it indiscriminately."

Coran smirked, "He's not going to talk to you, I'm afraid."

Mhenlo seemed startled. "Whyever not?"

The Charr rolled his eyes, and slumped his shoulders in defeat. Apparently, this was a story that had been told many times.

"Well, perhaps I should say he _can't_ talk to you." Coran corrected himself, "Or talk to anyone, for that matter."

Grazz complied by lifting his head, showing a nasty clump of scar tissue across his throat, visible through the drastically thinner hair over the wound. This prompted Coran to continue, "While Grazz was in my confidence, he still had duties with his people to fulfill. One of them was spreading the word of the shaman caste about their 'gods.' This was all well and good for some time, until about five years ago when one tribal chief decided he didn't exactly like what Grazz had to preach. This chief had Grazz drug out into the wilderness, where he then ripped out Grazz's larynx and left him to die. It was fortunate Yue was tracking the clan and quickly came to Grazz's aid, or I fear the chief's plan would have been successful."

Devona started, having a really bad feeling that the world had become a much smaller place. "This… Charr tribal chief… do you happen to know his name?"

Coran paused, and tapped his chin. "Oh yes, indeed. It was… Pyre Fierce… shot, as I recall. Right, Yue?"

Grazz gurgled, his face twisted in anger, and Yue nodded. "Impressive. Your memory does work despite the learning you incessantly crush into your brain."

Coran sighed, "Yes, Pyre Fierceshot. From all the accounts I have, a most surly, unsophisticated, barbaric curmudgeon. Perhaps he had a point that the Charr 'gods' were nothing to be trusted, but his methods to make his point were cruel, vicious, and sadistic; a most despicable creature… barely above a mindless beast, really. I fear for the Charr, and in fact all sentient life, if he ever gets his way."

A nervous pause settled among the table, as Vekk, Devona, Cynn, Aiden, and Mhenlo found themselves sharing awkward glances. Eve meanwhile, started to giggle uncontrollably.

Coran blinked twice then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Devona bit her lower lip nervously, "Well… Pyre Fierceshot successfully broke the shaman's primary fortification and killed the caste leaders several months ago." She began. "He… uh… might have had our help doing it."

"Well, isn't that lovely?" Coran mused, the disappointment in his voice evident. "And before you start Grazz, in one regard, the end scenario for Pyre's plan and for your former caste's plan was largely the same."

"Pyre is not the Charr warchief for that matter, either." Mhenlo added, hoping to defuse the situation, as he could visibly see the rage building in Grazz's powerfully built frame. "He refused the station, actually… as I understand, the tribal balances govern the Charr hand at this moment. For what it's worth, I did not see in Pyre the mindless beast that you have been informed of. Crude, indeed, but hardly barbaric."

"I will acknowledge that my information in this regard is either highly slanted…" He made an apologetic shrug to Grazz, "… or very incomplete. And to be perfectly honest, the state of the Charr people does not concern me greatly at this time."

"Quite… and now if we could return to our previous tale, I have to admit I am curious how a member of the Vanguard found allegiance with a Charr shaman. The thought rather makes peace between the Kurzicks and Luxons seem possible." Aidan cut in.

"Ironically, it was the Kurzick/Luxon feud that brought Yue's family to Ascalon. As for her connection to me, she was a member of the Ascalon Vanguard, which became known as the Ebon Vanguard. Before my… disappearance, Grazz would often report information to her if he couldn't make it to me."

There had been something nagging in Devona's mind for the last few minutes, she hadn't been able to quite put her finger on it, but then it all came together at that moment. "Wait. Hold up. Grazz and Yue weren't with you when you found your way to Atal Ra?"

Coran blinked, "Why would they be?"

"Then… how did they get here?"

The prince gestured towards the north, "The earthquakes caused a connection of sorts between a dried up river bed, a groundwater reservoir about five miles north of the wall, and the main Atal Ra chamber. I'm not sure if you saw the lake forming on the north side, but that's where it was coming from. Once the reservoir drained completely, it created a nice tunnel between Atal Ra and the surface. Vekk, I'm rather surprised you didn't know it was there… you didn't make any geological surveys of the area before you decided to drill on in?"

"I didn't exactly think to survey this entire half of the continent. I had no reason to examine Charr controlled territory even if I had no concerns for the lives of the surveyors." Vekk retorted.

"_Wait a Grenth forsaken minute!_" Devona hollered, pounding her fists on the table. Confident she had garnered full attention, she turned an irate eye towards Coran. "You mean to tell us that there has been a path to the outside world from this academy for _months_?"

"Yes…"

"And did it not occur to you that maybe… just _maybe_… the people of Ascalon would have liked to know you were still… you know… _alive_? You mean to tell me you could have returned home for _months_?"

Coran blinked, "The tunnel exits into Charr lands, Devona. It's not exactly a place to take a casual stroll. Besides, I was rather needed here. What use would I have been in Ascalon? It's not like my father exactly delegated responsibility, even to Rurik."

"Your father is ill!" Devona snarled, "And you don't care!"

Vekk suddenly cut in, "Devona… we didn't get notice of King Adelbern's condition until after we made communication with Coran. It's entirely possible he didn't know until just now."

"More than possible." Coran said, unable to mask his surprise. "There was little news coming from Ascalon… they've largely cut themselves off from the outside world… even attempts by the Ebon Vanguard to report in have been rebuffed."

He gestured to an usher, and said, "Get me a pad and a stylus quickly, if you could." As the steward rushed off to complete the task, he turned back to the table, and said, "Could someone tell me my father's symptoms? Anything you can remember of his state could be useful."

"He's dying." Cynn remarked. "What else do you need to know?"

"Well, depending on what is causing his condition, it could be treatable." Coran answered. "I've garnered incredible amounts of knowledge concerning human health and physiology."

Nervously, they began to fill Coran in on the details of their audience with the king, Vekk obviously knowing more of what the prince was looking for, as his testimony was filled with mostly scientific muck that made Devona's head spin.

"A bile pallor in the arms… trouble with respiration…" Coran repeated to himself until he had paper and a thin object that resembled a featherless quill in his hands, which he then used to scribble on the paper with think, black ink lines. "Sounds like he's having fluids filling his lungs. There could be a handful of things causing this condition… a few simple, non-invasive blood tests should isolate the culprit. However, I suspect that simple old age is not a factor."

"Meaning…?" Mhenlo asked.

"That depending on what _is_ causing the symptoms… the King of Ascalon could make a full recovery." Coran answered. "I'm loathe to make such a promise until I know precisely, but it is a possibility."

He then motioned to the steward once more. "Have the Medical Krewe prepare the mobile laboratory, and have it packaged for travel. Also, have Japphe and his apprentices ready to accompany me, and make sure they are prepared for antibiotic solutions if I require them."

Devona found it so odd to see an Asura so quickly and willingly attending to a human's beck and call that nearly forgot what else she was angry about. But when he turned to her smiled, and said assuringly, "I'll do all I can to ensure my father's continued life, dearest," she remembered.

"How… dare you… speak to me like that?" She accused. "So maybe you couldn't return to Ascalon. Maybe you didn't want to alert the Charr to Atal Ra… fine, I can accept that. But… surely it wasn't impossible to at least try… and tell me that… you weren't dead?"

"Devona…" Coran gulped, and tried to be soothing. "The Asura and Forgotten leaders here didn't exactly allow for communication to the surface world. Believe me, a week didn't go by that I didn't want to contact you somehow. And for the record, I did send Yue out to try and deliver notice to you when she had some semblance of free time."

The assassin grumbled. "Coran only knew of your homestead in Rin, which is rather empty at this point, and you didn't exactly leave a forwarding address outside of 'somewhere in Kryta' from what I could glean from the remaining populace. On top of that, as I understand, you weren't even in the Ascalon settlement all that damned often. Do pardon me if I didn't exactly want to hunt you down all over the gods damned continents to deliver a silly, 'I miss you lovey' letter.

Yue's tone turned somewhat bitter as she continued, "Lyssa take it all, there was a point where you literally dropped off the face of the world. Surely you can't blame me for not believing 'Oh, she plunged headlong into the Realm of Torment, but she said she'd be right back.' I personally felt Coran was wasting his damn time, had it been me, I would have chalked you up for dead and moved on with my life."

Cynn's eyes darted back between Devona, Yue, and Coran several times before she decided it was time to interject, settling her gaze upon her oft traveling companion. "Okay… why would the prince send you anything, Devona? Much less a… personal… letter?"

Aidan couldn't fight back the guffaw, and it was as if Devona finally realized just what she had admitted to all the people she didn't want to admit it to. "I…" She began, but stopped before any further words could come out, her face beginning to flush brightly.

"Oh ho… it appears I'm not the only one that wasn't completely forthcoming with those I am close to." Coran said teasingly. "Are you still worried that people would think less of your accomplishments?"

"I'm glad I'm the only one that doesn't know what's going on here." Cynn glowered.

"You're not alone, my dear." Mhenlo assured her.

"Surely you can guess at this point." Coran noted wryly. "It's not exactly like the history of my father and Devona's father is exactly secret. Mordakai and Adelbern were close friends during the Guild Wars, both closely involved with Ascalon's Chosen. In fact, I suspect Mordakai was one of a mere handful of people my father felt he could trust."

Devona's head dropped on the table with a dull thud, embarrassment filling her from the crown of her head to her toes. Next Coran would tell them…

"As is common with two friends that were so close, they made several pacts and agreements; most of them concerning what to do if one of them died. One such pact involved that Adelbern would care for Mordakai's young daughter if Mordakai were to meet an untimely end… much like he did. Well, considering that Devona and I got along so famously as children, the two old men decided it would be perfect to bond us together to ensure dear Devona's well being."

Devona's groan perfectly coincided with Cynn's gasp. "You mean… you… and the prince…"

The warrior's slow nod, her face still blocked by its position planted on the tabletop, was barely noticeable, but if anyone hadn't seen it, Coran's affirmation came seconds later. "Yes, Devona and I are betrothed. Granted, in a perfect world, we would have been married when we both officially came of age… but circumstance rather prevented it, I fear. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't common knowledge."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Come on, Coran!" Devona giggled, dragging the young prince across the back yard of the homestead by his arm. "I want to show you the Strider nest!"

"I'm coming!" The boy protested between yelps. "Do you have to run so fast?"

Devona could barely hear her mother's startled gasp, as it was mostly drowned out by her "Uncle" Adelbern laughing uproariously.

Devona dropped to her stomach at the edge of the maintained property, at the top of a hill that overlooked a trickling brook, in which at the banks rested her quarry… seven large, speckled Strider eggs nestled in a bed of twigs and leaves.

"See? Aren't they pretty?" Devona said, pointing towards the nest. "When they hatch I'm gonna have a pet. You can have one too!"

Coran frowned, clearly not impressed. "They've been snake eaten."

Devona boggled. "How can you say that?"

"We're halfway through the Season of the Scion." Coran explained. "Strider eggs hatch late in the Zephyr. Also, living Strider eggs are white, these are light brown, telling me they've been here a while. I'm just guessing they've been eaten by snakes; that's the most common way this happens."

The young girl blinked. "Where did you learn this? This 'tutoring' must be pretty cool! I hope I'm that smart when I'm ten!"

"My tutoring is boring." The prince answered. "I learned that on my own. The books in the Regal Library are much more informative than the stuffy old man my father has me try and learn from."

"Oh." Devona finished… with her surprise and carefully laid plans of Strider-rearing ruined, she was suddenly at a loss as to what to do next. "Want to get some cider? My mother and I prepared some this morning! It should be ready by now!"

Coran cringed slightly. He had never been fond of the taste of cider, a bit too tart for his palette, having been used to more exquisite beverages. Nonetheless, he didn't want to disappoint his friend, and with as confident a voice as he could manage, he replied, "That sounds like a brilliant idea."

But as the pair slowly returned to Devona's homestead, they noticed that the adults had moved back into the house proper, and caught a conversation they weren't supposed to hear, mostly because they heard Adelbern say, "While the children are still out of earshot, Allisette… there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Please, go on, your highness." Devona's mother said gently, as if afraid using her normal volume would somehow insult the king.

Adelbern sighed, "We aren't in public, Allisette. How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?"

"I… don't think I'll ever get used to it. I know my dear Mordakai had the nerve… but you both were also dear friends long before your crowning."

"Yes, we were, won't we?" The king wistfully noted. "It's because of that friendship that I want to bring this to your attention. I'm not sure if Mordakai ever did… he might not have thought me too serious… but I was, and I still am."

His chest expanded with a heavy breath. "Devona and Coran certainly get along, don't they?"

"I would think so…" Devona's mother agreed with a slight smile. "He's on my threshold every day, it seems. I understand he doesn't have too many friends, so I suppose I'm honored that my daughter is deemed worthy."

"The noble life bores him." Adelbern explained. "He gets that from his father, I think. That, and he finds their 'haughty, ignorant excuse for knowledge' to be 'dreadfully and obnoxiously annoying.' Those are his words by the way. His intellect definitely came from his mother. It must."

"Now, I highly doubt you want to talk to me about my daughter and your son's relationship."

"Actually…" The king said, "I do."

Allisette stopped her half-hearted cleaning, and turned to face the King of Ascalon. "What about it?"

"Before Mordakai left for the fateful battle in Khylo, we had a long, deep discussion about the state of the Guild Wars, and how dangerous they were becoming. During that discussion, we made a promise that we'd take care of each other's families if something were to happen…"

"And you have, your highness. I have no complaints, you've done more than enough for Devona and I…"

"Well, there's a little more to that." He interrupted. "Granted, it was a tentative arrangement… but seeing how well Devona and Coran get along, I would like to make it official."

Allisette's eyes bulged. "You aren't saying…"

"I would like for Coran to be bonded to your daughter… with your blessing of course."

The woman boggled. "Devona's… hardly a noble child, your highness. I can't imagine the lords would approve…"

"Asking for the lords' approval is a courtesy. I can arrange whatever bondings I wish. Besides, I already have Duke Barradin's support on the matter… he was actually astonished I was taking so long to make a formal union. Mordakai has earned great honor and respect to the people of Ascalon. Even if it mattered, there would be no complaints."

Allisette tried to say something, but her voice and her lips did not seem to want to cooperate.

"So, do I have your blessing to proceed?"

Finally, Devona's mother was stirred to words. "Of… of course! Both Mordakai and yourself appeared to have thought of this a great deal… I, and no doubt my husband watching from the Mists, are honored that you have deemed our daughter worthy of the prince."

Just outside the open window of the kitchen, Devona turned to Coran, her eyes blinking in confusion. "What are they talking about?"

The Prince didn't return her focus, keeping his head inclined up towards the window in which the words of their parents had wafted through. "I do believe we were just engaged to be married."

"Married? You mean, like my mom and dad were?"

Coran guffawed silently, and answered, "Well, probably not exactly like they were, but the end result would be the same, I suppose."

"That's wonderful!" Devona exclaimed, causing Coran to panic, and pull her away from the window before they could be discovered eavesdropping.

"Wonderful, you say?" The prince answered in amusement when he felt they were a safe distance away.

"Well… I mean… we'd live in the same house, and you wouldn't have to walk so far to play, right?" She then explained nervously, now worried that maybe Coran knew something about this "marriage" thing that she didn't. He probably did… he knew a lot of things she didn't.

Instead, his lips turned upward in a rare grin, and he replied, "Yeah, I hadn't thought of it that way. You're right." He didn't want to have to explain that marriage was a bit more involved than that… and he wasn't supposed to know those sorts of things at his age anyway.

"Devona! It's time for dinner! Make sure you and Prince Coran get cleaned up before I begin serving!" Allisette's voice rung out in half declaration and half reprimand.

"Yes mother!" Devona shouted back, all enthusiasm of "marriage" dispelled by the thought of food. "We better hurry or the food'll get cold!" She then said to Coran excitedly before grabbing his right wrist in the vise like grip that belied her destiny as a true warrior.

Coran shook his head. "Ah… the fickle nature of the child's mind." He said with a soft snicker before he was nearly yanked out of his shoes by his eager friend…

* * * * *

"Devona! Wake up!"

She snapped out of her trip through long buried memories to find Cynn's face hovering right in front of hers, the elementalist bent over so she could peer directly at the sitting warrior.

"The Prince has been looking for you. I wouldn't keep your bondmate waiting. I mean, it's already been what… nine… maybe ten years?"

Devona sneered in annoyance. "Do not start that with me, Cynn. It's bad enough Vekk was trying to hang it over my head this entire time."

"It got the job done, didn't it?" The Asuran piped up, drawing attention to his presence at Cynn's side, and looking extremely smug while doing so.

"My relationship to Coran is none of your business, nor is my supposed bonding. Much has happened since the Searing, and a lot has changed. I will not have you drudging up old, forgotten agreements that may have no bearing on the present."

Convinced she had made her point; Devona stood and began to move towards the academy proper. But nary five feet separated her from her tormentors before she heard Cynn's voice say, "Of course, Princess. I shall do as you request immediately."

The warrior's head and upper body turned slowly, trembling with fury, to see Cynn stooped in a deep bow that was granted to royalty… save for the devious, teasing grin on her face. Further examination showed that Vekk had followed suit.

Before she could imagine too many ways that an Asuran could be permanently and painfully embedded into a human, the clacking of what sounded like talons on the smooth brick walkway caught her ear and eventually her eye.

Coran, sitting atop a massive specimen of a Strider and holding reins that attached to a bit in the bird's beak came to a stop aside Devona. "There you are, my friend." He said. "I suppose I was in err to come after you… Cynn did indeed locate you admirably. Nonetheless, we have a few hours before everything is ready to depart, and I thought to show you around the Academy in the meantime… if you would like."

She sighed in relief. "Oh, please… anything to get me away from these children."

He extended his hand, and instructed Devona how to mount the avian creature, settling in the rear half of its saddle, and wrapping her arms around Coran's abdomen. He gave one last parting look to the two elementalists, who had since straightened from their bow, and said, "You will find my patience for those who torment my friends to be painfully short, Lady Cynn... something Vekk should already be quite aware of. I suggest you remember that in the future."

He flicked the reins once without further word, and the Strider moved again into a gentle trot towards the barricade wall of Atal'Ra.


	9. Chapter 9

_(Author's Note: Attention Ensign, set Sap Factor Five. Engage!)_

**Chapter Nine**

"I did try to contact you." Coran said simply as the Strider reached the earthen barricade and turned left around the inside perimeter.

"I believe you. I really do." Devona assured, shifting her weight to maintain balance as the bird turned, giving Devona a good view of the Academy and surrounding city of sorts.

It looked all so uniform, with the smaller buildings giving way to ever taller one until it all yielded to the towering spires of Atal Ra, still gleaming with gold and the central spire reflecting the light through the chamber. But due to the closer distance, Devona discovered the light to be far more painful to look at, closing her eyes as the luminance burned obnoxious discolored spotches into the back of her eyes.

"Oh, yeah… don't look at the light up there." Coran answered sheepishly. "That's nearly 20,000 nodes being reflected off the Mirror Tower… at this distance it would be like looking into the sun. Someone probably should repair the undershades to keep new visitors from making that mistake."

"I haven't seen anything like that… not even in Rata Sum." The warrior admitted.

"Well, Rata Sum probably doesn't have the energy resources we have. There are several deep magma conduits beneath his chamber that we can tap to power the lighting arrays. That, and as I understand, Rata Sum is on the surface, so it likely wouldn't need a large geothermic generator like the one here in Atal Ra."

"I see you haven't changed much." Devona said, surprising herself by giggling. "You sound just as befuddling as you always have."

"On the contrary, dear; I've changed a great deal." The prince answered. "One notable change should be obvious by the prince's new clothes."

"Yes, I've seen that attire… the Paragons of Istan use that design. I suppose you want me to ask how a man buried underneath Ascalon managed to learn the techniques of the Sunspears in Elona?"

"Not really. There were several Paragon masters in Atal Ra before the Destroyers attacked. Sslani, the Forgotten Headmaster of Atal Ra before me, thought it would help my leadership skills to take on the profession. I merely wanted to point out one way in which things have changed."

"It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Devona asked.

"Nine Years, two seasons, and thirty-three days." Coran agreed, and she could oh so barely see the color appear on his cheeks after he had made the statement. "I suppose… I have been keeping close track." He admitted with a hint of embarrassment.

Coran pulled the Strider to a halt at the entrance to an ivy walled gazebo on the eastern side of Atal Ra, a scant ten meters from the barricade, and after dismounted, assisted Devona in doing the same.

The fragile-seeming wooden structure, shrouded by the curtain of vines provided a disturbingly great sense of privacy, which Devona suddenly found to be somewhat discomforting. She hadn't felt so awkward in years.

"The reason I'm bringing up all this change is…" Coran began, but stopped. "Gods take me, I don't know how to say this."

"The living tome himself speechless?" Devona found herself joking. "Things truly _have_ changed."

"It's about our bonding." The prince explained. "I think you recall all too well how awkward it was to discuss it once puberty hit."

Oh, did she remember. She remembered all to well blushing so badly she was sure her head was going to explode whenever her mother brought it up… which was usually three or four times a day. She remembered stealing off at night to meet Coran in some secluded hideaway in Rin because they both were so embarrassed of what people would do or say if they were seen together in public. She remembered chafing at every promotion she received when she had entered the military, wondering if her superiors had found out the secret of her husband-to-be, and were trying to flatter her once she became "royalty."

"I know for the longest time, you probably thought I was dead, and I'm sure within those nine years, two seasons, and thirty-three days that you moved on. I don't know much about the surface world, but I have a hard time believing that someone as beautiful, witty, and confident as you were and are remained pining away for the memories of someone not even deemed a man by his peers before he disappeared."

Devona began to speak, but Coran hushed her with a finger to her lips. "And even if you have, as I said, much has changed. I'm not the same person as the one who walked away from Rin, and happened upon the heart of Asuran and Forgotten knowledge. And I'm sure you're not the same as you once were either. At this point, we've been apart almost as long as we were together. Both our fathers gave us the option of breaking the bonding at any point before we were married… I would not be upset if you decided to do so, or deep down already had."

The warrior gently pushed away his finger. "Yes, we have both changed, that I am sure… but not nearly as much as you would like to think. You're still as annoyingly analytical as you ever were… you've just learned bigger words to use."

She sighed, and continued, "As for finding someone else, I never really had that opportunity, even if I had wanted it. My life has felt like one endless battle from the moment the Searing struck. There was no room for romance or love in my life. But I didn't want it anyway. We grew up joined… and unlike all the horror stories I heard about such arranged marriages, I never felt forced into it. We liked each other… and grew to… love each other. At least I did. There, I said it. Mighty Devona, admits to the "weakness" of caring about someone else. What Cynn would pay to hear those words from my mouth."

Their eyes locked, and Devona finished, "I know I might have seemed embarrassed about my relationship to you…"

"I understood perfectly. You were raised proud and independent and to excel on your own merits." Coran assured. "It would have been an insult of the highest order to be lifted up simply because you were bonded to the youngest prince of the kingdom."

They both fell silent, searching the others eyes for some sign that they weren't being completely honest. "But no matter how you wish to downplay it, we and the circumstances around us have changed. I don't want to move forward with anything just to find out the changes are more than we find acceptable." Coran reiterated... seemingly hellbent on reinforcing that point.

"Perhaps we should get to know each other again, then." Devona retorted with a smirk. "Before we make any rash decisions."

"That might be a good idea." The prince answered, the tug in his chest compelling him to lean forward, barely acknowledging in the back of his mind that she was doing the same. "I'm Coran."

She felt his hands slide around her back, and wrapped her own over his shoulders. "Devona."

"A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

Their kiss should not have set off the sort of fire in her belly that it did. They didn't even open their mouths. But the moment their lips met, the last thing she wanted was for it to end, wanting more even as she knew doing so probably wouldn't be prudent.

And so, they stayed in that bizarre stalemate, wanting and yet not wanting to go further for what was beginning to feel like an obscene amount of time. But Devona pushed such caring back out of her thoughts. It didn't matter if it was weird… it was perfect just as it was…

* * * * *

Damn it.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

Damn it all.

Damn it to the gods and let Grenth take all of it straight to the Realm of Torment.

Assassins didn't cry. Assassins didn't let anything affect them so profoundly. Surrender to emotion led to mistakes, led to error, led to death. It was better to rein all of it tightly in, never let it consume ones thoughts… to be eternally vigilant lest control slip at the most inopportune time.

But there was no fighting back the tears that slid down her cheeks.

Damn it.

Coran hadn't seen her for years! That… that… wanton hussy had blissfully lived her life without Coran for nearly a decade!

No… _she_ was the one that had been by the prince's side when he needed help the most. _She_ had been the one faithfully defending his life and aiding him when all had seemed lost. _She_ had been the one willing to die just to hear his approval.

But that was not meant to be… deep down she had known that. Perhaps Devona wasn't some noble born priss, destined from birth to be a nobleman's wife… but she was even lower than that… just some obscure peasant girl from a migrant family… forced north because they weren't fit by blood to be "true Ascalonians."

But didn't it mean _anything_? Was she truly so insignificant in his mind that when the full figure and alluring blue eyes turned his way that he had no hesitation whatsoever to respond to the advance?

Damn it.

She slithered through the halls of Atal Ra, consciously turning down paths to avoid other sentient beings. She eventually found her way to her quarters, and to the bottom shelf of her wardrobe, where tucked underneath piles of her unmentionables was a stack of letters bound with purple thread, opened yet undelivered.

The thread came untied, yielding the contents of the opened missives, the words of Prince Coran wishing the intended recipient well, holding reluctant hope that his love expressed within those words could still be returned.

But in her treacherous eyes, "Devona" would be replaced with "Yue."

And so the assassin cried… bitter tears of a hopeless love doomed to never be realized.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

It had been over nine years since Coran had seen the land of Ascalon. He remembered it as he left it… bright and green and filled with life. He had known about the Searing, he had some inkling as to what it was capable of… but to see the effects of its power was unsettling.

Devona didn't comment about Coran's strider, that had taken position in the center of the convoy, started slowing down, it's rider wide-eyed, trying to take in everything the scene had to offer… and effectively silenced anyone who might have wanted to with a scathing glare.

"We've seen better days…" Devona said wistfully, taking up position alongside him.

The prince didn't look down at her, his eyes continuing to soak in the desolation. "Obviously…" Then he squinted, and startled the entire convoy when he abruptly bellowed, "Hey! Don't drink that!"

Coran's strider then picked up into a sharp canter and veered off at a near right angle from the convoy. Devona started to follow, but on foot had no chance of keeping up with the large bird Coran was riding. Nonetheless, she and the rest of the convoy was able to discern what had garnered the prince's attention; two small children filling water skins at the banks of a murky pool of water formed by a natural dam in a slow moving creek.

Coran slid off the Strider and hovered over the pair of kids, a young boy and girl likely not even in double digit years of life, from his guess. "That water is filthy, children… there are minerals, poisons, and likely even a large handful of pathogens from where you pulled the water." He chided.

"But… there's nowhere else to drink. The wells have been dry for years…" The girl protested. "And my mommy's really hot."

Devona finally reached Coran's side as the prince dropped to his knee. "Well, I will show you how to get clean water from anywhere… even from places such as this. And perhaps I can see what I can do to help your mommy while I'm at it. Do you live up there?" He said, pointing downstream to where a depressingly slanting shack stood… using the term loosely.

"Uh huh." The girl nodded. "But… we're not even supposed to talk to strangers, much less lead them home."

Coran chuckled, "You've been taught well… but I think in this case, an exception to the rule can be made. I suspect if I even so much as entertained a thought to harm either of you, Captain Devona here would likely take parts of my body I'd much rather keep."

He held out his hands to the children, who each took one and began their trek towards the shack in the distance. Coran motioned with a gesture of his head for the convoy to follow, then added in order, "Devona, see if you can find a clean sterilized cloth… I suspect any of the Asurans will have several, and several pieces of charcoal. I will need them once we reach our destination."

* * * * *

"Now… this might seem a bit strange." Coran warned. He had been holding off this part of his examination until the end mostly because it might create an extremely awkward moment for a person not used to such medical procedure. "But I need to do this to make sure I am making the right diagnosis."

The older woman, weakened from fever, simply nodded. The prince breathed heavily, made sure his sterilized perma-elastic glove was in place, and heard her gasp in shock as his hand slid under her skirt and finished the task. It didn't take long, fortunately; as he quickly found the tell-tale swelling that he was looking for, and quickly pulled away.

Coran plucked the sheer rubbery material off his right hand, and gave it to one of the Medical Krewe assistants for proper disposal. He frowned, and declared, "Yes, madam, it appears you have contracted a parasite; Encephalam Titorous, to be precise. Normally, it's too weak to overcome the body's natural immune system, but it can be quite opportunistic if you became ill before, like the cold you told me you had last week."

"So… what can be done?" Mhenlo queried, immensely curious of the Prince's experience. "Prayers to the Gods themselves rarely yield results from natural illness."

"Mostly because the Gods prefer for nature to take its course." Coran explained. "However, there are things we as mere mortals can do to thwart pestilence and disease, or at worst, ease the pain of those suffering. However, in this case, I suspect it won't be needed. As I said, the Titorous parasite is not particularly virulent… I would say with near absolute certainty she contracted it drinking filth like this."

Coran grabbed up one of the full waterskins on the dinner table in the shack to make his point, then said, "A week or two with some properly cleaned drinking water, and she should make a full recovery. And now, let's show these young ones how to go about it, and we can be on our way."

To his Medical Krewe, he said, "You can go ahead and pack everything we took back up, there's nothing I will need from any of you at this point." As the Asura devoted themselves to the task, he began making other orders. "Okay… Mhenlo, you have the cloth I asked for earlier, right?"

The monk handed the object over, and he explained to the family, "You don't have to use this particular cloth. Any fine cloth like silk or quality linen will do if needed. As long as the cloth you use has been thoroughly washed, it should be good enough. I'll let you have this one, though, and you should use this as often as you can."

Devona noted that when he started giving the instructions to the family, that his manner of speech became simpler. How could she convince him to speak that way more often?

"Cynn, grab that pot from over the cooking fire, will you?" Coran continued expertly, "Aiden, begin another fire in there… there should be enough wood and kindling to get a good blaze going."

The prince then laid the cloth across the table, and on another section, began grinding the charcoal into a fine powder on one of the dinner plates provided. Once he was satisfied with the efforts, he poured the charcoal powder onto the cloth, and folded it over twice, tying the two far ends together in tight knots.

The cloth ends extended from one end of the circular pot to the other, and he pinned the two ends to the rim with a pair of clamped tongs normally used for holding meat over the cooking fire. "Now, this is where you want to be careful." He said to the pair of children, beckoning them to come to his side, waiting for them to kneel on the chairs to get a look at what he was instructing.

"You want to make sure the water goes onto the cloth without too much splashing." Coran said, slowly pouring the grimy contents of the waterskin out. "If the cloth becomes completely wet, you need to stop to let the water currently in there to go through, okay?"

It took several minutes for the waterskin to empty. "You can use about five waterskins on the cloth before you have to clean it and change the charcoal inside. But as you can see… we have the start of what will be very good drinking water."

Devona had to admit she was as curious as the children, a curiosity she apparently shared with several other adults. Even in the dim light it was very obvious that the normally sickeningly gray water was astonishingly clear… Devona honestly wasn't terribly sure what he meant... it looked good enough to drink now.

"In case you're curious, all we've really done so far is clean the impurities like tar or loose dirt out of the water. Nasty little bugs like the one making your mother sick are still living in here. That's what we need the fire for."

He took the pot over to the fire, and set it on the stand built for it. "Wait for the water to come to slow boil, then take it off the fire and let it cool. The heat will kill off all those nasty creatures, and the water will be safe to drink. Did you get all that?"

The children nodded, and Coran wrote down the same instructions off a pad of paper in the pocket of his vest. "Just in case, there here for you as well… and make sure your father takes a look at these when he gets home. I wish I could stay longer, but I am on some pressing business myself, so I'm afraid we'll have to make a quick departure."

The ill woman, sensing her guests were about to leave, forced the strength to sit up slightly, and ask, "Who are you… and where did you learn these things?"

Cynn's eyes flared wide. "Are you completely out of touch, woman? This is…"

"A mere man with far too much time on his hands to learn things that men should never know." Coran interrupted with a warm smile. "I'd get into detail, but we really must be on our way. Come now, everyone. The lady needs her rest."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

In all the time Devona had known Duke Barradin, first as her teacher, then as her commanding officer, she had never seen the king's right hand man boggle. She had never seen him so taken aback that he was stunned to silence like he was the moment Prince Coran's procession came to stop in front of the main doors of the palace of Rin.

Nonetheless, Devona couldn't help but feel something was… off… about the arrival. It didn't have the joyous feel she had been expecting. Coran himself looked extremely put out and disinterested the moment the spires of the palace became visible… a coolness that had not warmed as he adroitly dismounted and starting giving orders to his Medical Krewe; the Asurans wasting no time unpacking the strider-led trolley carrying the indecipherable equipment that theoretically would be used to treat the ailing King of Ascalon.

"I had been told you still lived… but… I suppose I never believed it until now." Barradin stammered. "It is great news to see you again, your highness."

"Don't call me that ever again."

The voice was so cold that Devona almost couldn't believe that it came from the normally bright, intellectual and quiet prince. Barradin again was speechless, not that Coran paid him any more attention anyway, as his attention was again on his Krewe and the rest of the procession.

"There's no lift here, ladies and gentlemen, so we're going to have to carry all the equipment by hand." He declared. "The service stairwell should be broad enough, but it's going to be a bit of a hike. Don't take any more than you can reasonably carry… and make two or more trips if need be. Anything breaks, and you will be responsible for any and all costs."

Barradin seemed to recover his composure after Coran's frigid dismissal. The young prince was eyeing a large wooden crate marked "FRAGILE" five times on each visible side of the box, and Devona suspected probably carried the same on the bottom. At this point, Barradin said, "Prince Coran… can I be of assistance?"

"I am _Headmaster_ Coran." The prince asserted. "And if you want to make yourself useful, find any object not labeled as 'fragile' and take it up to the king's private counsel room. I trust you're capable of that much."

"You there!" He suddenly shouted to the guards standing watch at the service gate grumpily. "If the Charr were about to attack, I suspect you'll have plenty of time to return to your 'posts'. Get over here and make yourselves useful!"

Barradin had clearly been expecting a certain climate to the triumphant return to the sole surviving heir of King Doric's line, and this was definitely not it. Devona understood that to some extent… she had been expecting something similar to what had no doubt been in the Duke's mind.

"Your highness… I do not understand…"

"You obviously can't comprehend either, because I already told you not to call me that." Coran growled as he crouched down before the crate he had been sizing up. "You will address me as Headmaster, or failing your ability to form that three-syllable word, 'professor' or 'sir' I suppose will do."

Yue, as per her nature, seemed to appear out of the thin air at Coran's side. In a voice that could have been mistaken for a whisper had it not been loud enough for Devona to clearly hear a handful of feet away, the assassin drawled, "If you want him quiet, I could garrote him quickly enough for you, Headmaster."

"While I appreciate your attempt to appeal to my deeply buried sadistic streak, I suspect such an action against a major noble of Ascalon in the heart of the kingdom would not be a particularly prudent move, even for someone as elusive as yourself." He said with a dry smirk.

He growled in frustration as he tested the weight of the crate, and deemed it not to be within his limits to handle alone. But the moment his voice uttered again, the icy tone had disappeared, "Devona, dear… hand what you've got there to Yue, and lend me your strength to this here."

The warrior started, but quickly complied, taking the other side across from the Prince, oblivious to the dark glare the assassin gave her as she handed off the three satchels she had slung over her shoulder. "Actually, let's switch sides." He said, "I'll guide us and you can provide the power."

As they rounded the box, Coran paused momentarily, and ordered, "Vekk… see who else you can stir up among the 'guard'. Tell them it is on their returned 'prince's' order and have them handle the rest of the more sturdy equipment. If we can get enough assistance, we won't have to send people back down to haul the remainder up."

With that, he took his position, and with a nod, signaled for Devona to hoist the crate up to her waist. It was not particularly heavy, she noted… but its size would have been cumbersome for one person to carry. "What is in here?"

"Microscopic equipment." Coran replied, his tone once again the soothing, gentle lilt that she was much more used to. Clearly whatever was bothering him had nothing to do with her… although she wasn't certain why she had that worry in the back of her mind. "I might be able to use it to see what is plaguing my father. It makes even the minutest of objects visible to the human eye."

"Oh." The warrior responded… even though the explanation had not helped much. Rather than try and futilely understand how such a device would work, she changed the topic to what was far more pressing in her mind. "Why… don't you want Barradin calling you 'prince'?"

Coran frowned. "Well, my dear… how would you have liked it had everyone called you 'Princess-to-be' instead of 'Captain' throughout your military career?"

Now _that_ made sense.

"Becoming Headmaster of Atal Ra was something I earned. Granted, a large amount of death and tragedy came into play, but it wasn't something I was guaranteed to have… it wasn't something that was handed to me simply by the event called birth. I was chosen to lead the academy because I rose to the occasion, and had gained the knowledge and skill necessary to do the job better than anyone else. That title means far more to me than one I have simply because I'm my father's son."

Devona smiled. "I understand fully, Headmaster. And if it means anything, I approve of your choice."

"You of all people are not required to address me with any honorific." He retorted, returning her grin.

A loud, annoyed cough drew their attention. Yue was standing behind Devona, glowering and tapping her foot. "While I can appreciate the need to rest weary arms and legs, it does not appear that is the problem. So can we get moving so I can put these infernal bags down before they rip me apart at the shoulders?"

Coran's eyes widened, and Devona shared his embarrassment. She hadn't even realized they had stopped. Sheepishly, she nudged forward, prompting Coran to continue backing up the steps and to the next landing.

* * * * *

King Adelbern had seen many things in his life… a life he was certain was coming to an end. But at this point, he had never imagined he would see one of his sons alive. True, he had heard Vekk's claim… but those blessed words had rung hollow, like he was sure they did to most the people of Ascalon. Hope had been a bitter whisper for so long…

But to see his youngest, vital and matured, standing in the doorway to his darkened room, that bitter whisper became a booming song… in a matter of seconds, he could have sworn his health had turned completely around.

"Cor… an. My son…" He began, slowly pushing himself onto his elbows, before said son's hand not too gently pushed him back down onto his back.

"Do not move, please." Coran said flatly, and now that Adelbern's son was up close, the King could see the dark, impassive visage etched onto his facial features.

"Coran… what…?"

"I am trying to see if there is anything I can do to either ease your pain, or perhaps treat your condition, father." Coran answered, showing no signs of emotion. "Now, I need you to lie still while I perform the examination."

This wasn't right in Adelbern's mind. This was not his son… Coran had been bright, joyful, and thoughtful. He had all the wonderful traits of his mother. This man before him was cold, dark, and even a slight bit intimidating. The king gasped as a cold metal circle slid under the fold of his robe, and pressed against his heart.

"Do… not… move." Coran reiterated in annoyance; Adelbern had jerked at the same time he gasped, and apparently that was unacceptable to the doppelganger that was hovering over the king's bed. "I need to breathe in as deeply as you can, and exhale slowly. Repeat that until I tell you to stop."

The king complied, astonished to the point that he could do nothing else. What had happened to his son? Why was he acting this way? Could he still be that upset from…

"Thank you." Coran said, even as his voice didn't support any sense of thanks, pulling the disk away from the king's chest and startling the monarch from his thoughts. "Evident fluid in the lungs… a definite pallor…" The prince muttered, then yanked away the covers from over the king, and began prodding with his fingers not very gently along the king's flanks. "Tenderness of the upper chest… open your mouth, please, father."

When Adelbern obeyed, the king saw a small, bright light shining from what looked like a smooth stick, aimed towards his mouth. "What… are you…?"

"Keep your mouth open, please." The younger man nearly growled, the prince's fingers forcing open the king's jaw before once again aiming the small beam of light into Adelbern's throat. "Severe swelling of the tonsils and the respiratory tract… are you getting this down, Nevin?"

"Yes, Headmaster." An Asuran voice squeaked, drawing the king's attention. The small creature was holding a pad of what appeared to be paper and some form of featherless quill; the prince had apparently been dictating to the Asura.

"Very good." Coran said, straightening. "Have five blood samples taken, at least one from the chest cavity. Two, if my father can handle possible discomfort. Deliver them to me as soon as you can. I suspect I will have a diagnosis by the end of the night."

The prince then stalked out of the room without so much as a parting, leaving him at the mercy of four now very discomforting Asura, their black eyes unreadable as they held small pointy metal objects in their hands.

The hope that King Adelbern had momentarily held crashed violently as the first metal object poked him in his right side, the shock more painful than the actual insertion. As the king's blood filled the vial at the end of the pin-like skewer, Adelbern could only wonder what had happened to his son in the last nine years...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"I only have two more tests to run." Coran growled. "I think you can wait an hour before you tuck me in."

"Coran… it's the middle of the night." Devona answered. "I'm sure whatever you're working on will keep until morning."

Not that the warrior really had any clue what Coran was doing. He could have been playing an obscure Asuran game for all she knew; flicking a small glass flask filled partway with Adelbern's blood, and half with a pale green liquid that he was attempting to mix.

"The sooner I can make a diagnosis, the sooner I can prepare a course of treatment. Isn't that the end goal?" The young prince retorted.

"Oh, for Lyssa's sake, the headmaster is a grown man." Yue's voice cut in testily. "You're not even married yet, and you're trying to smother him. He survived just fine without you for nearly a decade."

This time, Devona caught the dark glare the assassin cast her way. Devona's jaw dropped, uncertain just where to being responding; whether to the dismissal of her concerns, the idea of smothering anyone, or the implication of any impending marriage.

Yue's attentions quickly turned to Coran, offering him a cup of a steaming liquid. "White Tea, with a dash of sugar and cream; just how you like it."

Coran gave an appreciative, if distracted nod, and took one long sip promptly after claiming the cup. "Many thanks, Yue. Although I must ask that you dull your tongue towards Devona. She is merely acting as she think best."

Yue slouched like she had been slapped. "Of course, Headmaster. I… I too was only acting as I thought best."

"I know you were, Yue." He said, finally turning his head towards the assassin with a slight smile. "I think we're all on edge… probably stemming from me. But worry not, with any luck, we'll have this thing resolved in a few days."

"What do you think is wrong?" Devona asked.

"Well, his suffering stems from fluid building up in his lungs, causing the difficulty breathing, as well as the atrophy of his body… as he is unable to get the oxygen necessary to fuel the metabolism that allows his appetite to function properly." Coran began, either ignoring or not noticing the glazed over look that had fallen over the eyes of both women. "But that is merely the symptom; the culprit behind the symptom could be one of three things. First, and most hopefully, it is a bacterial infection which can be cured with the proper antibiotics. Secondly, and the most likely culprit, is a viral infection, most likely Allurmas Villiontra, well known for producing these symptoms. In that case, I can only prepare a proper dietary supplement and watchful eye and hope he pulls through. Finally, and also a strong possibility, is malignant genetic decay, which he could have easily developed through the poor environment… I'm sure there are a distressingly large number of contaminants in the earth that would then contaminate the food, or in the water and air. In that worst case scenario, the only thing I could do is ease his pain as much as I could."

There was silence for a moment until Devona and Yue processed that he had stopped talking. "And… these tests your doing now will help you figure out which problem it is?"

"Precisely." The prince affirmed. "This here is actually a simple dying technique. Once I examine it under the microscope, any antibodies in his blood will be highlighted. If I find an abnormally large number, it will exclude the malignancy theory. From there, I can examine the bacterial culture I made earlier. If it comes up positive, then the problem is bacterial. If nothing, then it's viral."

He paused, and for a moment, Devona was sure the prince had swayed slightly. "So, yes… very much… hinges… on this… blast it… Yue… you… did it again… didn't you?"

The assassin hopped forward, catching Coran as he slumped over. "For all the gods find blessed, could you give me a hand here?" Yue snapped at Devona, "He's heavy."

Devona complied, taking his left arm and sliding it over her shoulders while Yue did the same on the right. "What did you do to him?" The warrior accused, her mind trying to process the happenings in conjunction with Yue's seeming passive response.

Yue smirked triumphantly, "The Asurans call it Sleep Enhancing Drugs Activating Temporary Incapacitation Versus Extensive Sleeplessness; or S.E.D.A.T.I.V.E.S. for short. They're quite useful when Coran decides to pull one of these sessions. A couple drops stealthily slipped into his drinks heads off a very cranky Coran after being awake for three days."

The assassin pointed out to the door, and ordered, "All right, let's get him to bed before I crumple. Good thing you're strong as a bear… when Grazz isn't around, it's up to me and a handful of Asura to lug him off to his chambers."

"He really has changed a lot, hasn't he?"

Yue scoffed, "Not as much as you might think."

Another silence dropped over their surroundings. "You don't like me very much, do you?" Devona finally queried.

"Whether I like you or not is irrelevant." Was Yue's curt reply.

The warrior pressed forward, unsatisfied with the deflection. "Maybe, but I'd still like to know why. Did I do something that I don't realize?"

"You have no idea."

"What did I do? I don't care if you hate me, but I think I deserve to know why."

"Oh, for Lyssa's sake… you are obnoxious aren't you?" The assassin grumbled. "You're nothing like the woman Coran wrote about." Yue then froze, realizing what she had let slip, and hastily added, "Not… that I'd know… mind you…"

For a brief moment, Devona was about to take the assassin to task for what was clearly a breach of confidence, but her mind quickly made another connection that dug right to the heart of the matter.

"Oh, Dwayna save me… you…"

"Don't even start. I told you it didn't matter." Yue snapped.

"Does he know?"

"Of _course_ he doesn't know, you halfwit! And I expect you to keep it that way!"

"Yue…"

"Listen to me like your little boyfriend doesn't. Even if I had told him, it would have merely caused problems. I never had a chance, and I know it. I'm a nothing… the daughter of immigrants from Cantha."

"I'm not a noble either…"

"Yes, but I'm not the one he was pining for. Don't you get it, he's been smitten by you from the moment you were children. There wasn't, and isn't, room for anyone else. As humans go, you're rather bright, you have a good personality, and you're a heck of a lot more easy on the eye than I am. You're the perfect package."

"Don't say that, you're not ugly, or stupid, or mean-spirited, no matter how hard you try." Devona said with all the sincerity she could muster. "There's nothing I have that you don't."

Yue's eyes drifted down to her chest, then made a similarly appraising glance to the warrior across the way. Devona flushed, and said, "This… is mostly armor."

"Mmm hmm." Yue said disbelievingly, then said depressively, "Just… listen to me. Revealing how I feel will only needlessly complicate things. I'm not out of the picture because I was never in the picture to begin with. He loves you, and has for years… and you the same for him."

"Well… a lot has changed…"

"Do not patronize me." The assassin rolled her eyes then stopped abruptly. "We're here. Let's dump this fellow on the bed so we can get to sleep ourselves. Coran's going be irritated when he wakes up, and we're gonna need to be as sharp as we can to deal with him."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Yue had warned her that Coran would be quite displeased when he awoke, and she had not been exaggerating. The prince entered the royal lounge roughly two hours past daybreak where his makeshift envoy had assembled, every bit as irritated as Yue had foretold.

No one was doing much of note; Yue and Aidan had apparently struck up what amounted to small talk for the both of them, trading notes on scouting techniques; Vekk was scribbling gods-know-what on a pad laying on the short beverage table, growing increasingly frustrated with whatever it was judging from the muttering under his breath, growls, snarls, and furious scratching with his stencil; the other Asura (many of which she still didn't know by name), had congregated in the northwest corner talking quietly amongst themselves; and Cynn was sprawled belly up across a three seated sofa, her ankles dangling over one end, where Mhenlo was dutifully massaging her arches and soles.

All that changed save Mhenlo's ministrations the moment Coran appeared, his scowl apparent, and his nostrils visibly flared. The Asura cringed as their headmaster's eyes passed over them, and locked onto the assassin across from them. Devona could barely detect the slight assassin stiffen defensively, despite Yue's best efforts to look non-plussed.

"What did I tell you the last time you pulled a stunt like that?" Coran snarled, "I will not be drugged like some animal, especially by some Vanguard rat who continually forgets her place. I'm of half a mind…"

"To do absolutely nothing!" Devona cut in, drawing the prince's attention as she stood and stepped right up to him, to the point where the toes of their shoes were touching. "It is not Yue's fault that in your thirst for knowledge and conclusions that you have abandoned the common sense required to sleep at night! I don't know what makes you think that you can berate people for looking after you when you clearly can't be bothered to do it yourself, but I for one will not tolerate it! Now you will apologize to Yue this instant, and get back to the work that is apparently not nearly as important as you made it out to be since you are here blustering instead of tending to it."

The scene then dissolved into the silent awe that had stirred from the episode. No one present could have imagined anyone addressing either a prince of Ascalon, or the Headmaster of Atal Ra, in such a manner… and that apparently included Coran himself. His jaw dropped momentarily as his ample intellect tried to construct a response, eventually coming to the conclusion all males, regardless of status, conviction, or creed reach at some point in their lives. The smarter ones reach that conclusion faster than the others; and there was little doubt that Coran was a very smart man.

The seemingly infallible headmaster turned completely on his heel, gave Yue a slight bow, and said, "My dear Devona is correct… I was out of line. I know I need to learn when to call it a night… and I extend my apologies for taking you to task for my failings."

Yue momentarily locked eyes with Devona, and the assassin gave the warrior a small appreciative nod and smile, which Devona returned conspicuously as Coran scrambled his thoughts back together.

"As for my work… I finished the diagnosis before I came in here." He then added, "So, by your logic, it was as important as I claimed it to be. The news is neither as good nor as bad as it could have been. He has taken on a viral infection; careful monitoring will be required, and it might take time, but under the care of myself and Japphe's Medical Krewe, he should make a full recovery given time."

He straightened his chestpiece on his shoulders, then declared, "I suppose I should get to preparing a treatment regimen, since I've appraised everyone on the situation. Everyone should get comfortable; we could be here up to fifteen days or so."

Another well timed glare silenced the groans that were bubbling in the throats of the Asuran contingent. "You will have plenty of time when you all return home to resume tinkering with whatever machination each of you had that was going to inadvertently explode in your faces. For now, it's time to get to work. Japphe, I need you to oversee a least fifteen days worth of intravenous fluid solutions, rich in anti-oxidants… a precise formula is waiting you in the mobile laboratory. Get to it. _All_ of you."

The Asura filtered out single file, and Vekk finally peered up from his work, "Were you including myself in that order?"

"If you want to be of use, you could prepare communication to Atal Ra to get them up to speed… but that can be done at your leisure. I certainly am not going to be so bold as to interrupt a gifted mind in his attempts to decipher the Eternal Alchemy."

Vekk sighed, "That obvious, I assume?"

Coran smirked, "There is not an Asuran mind that doesn't parse every equation they know to the most minute argument they can seeking to find the key to the unsolvable theorem whenever they have a free moment. I myself have devoted an obscene amount of private time to that onerous task."

"You'll have to tell me what conclusions you've reached sometime."

Coran wagged a finger in playful chiding. "Now, now… there are two things an Asuran never gives; his money or his calculations. You know that."

"You're not Asuran." Vekk noted the obvious.

"Close enough as far as you should be concerned." He then made another full about turn, but just before he made his leave, he leaned back through the entry, and gave an appraising look towards Mhenlo and Cynn. "Mhenlo, my friend, an expecting woman's feet don't start becoming significantly stressed until the growth of the child has reached a point where it affects the mother's normal center of balance. I suspect Lady Cynn here is at least another half-season, if not more, away from that point… just in case you weren't aware."

The prince didn't wait to see the aftermath of his observation, but Devona did, and the warrior had to admit it was a rare occasion to see Cynn caught in the act, her lips turned upward in a toothy, nervous grin while her husband stared her down with a narrow, miffed expression.

"But… I'm cute." Cynn chirped hopefully; then sighed in resignation when her husband promptly stood, and joined Yue and Aidan's just resuming discussion.

* * * * *

Japphe looked in on the king, then at Devona, and said, "I suppose you may speak with him. Just make note that Coran wants to do one final examination, so try not to get in the way."

"I will. Thank you, Japphe." The warrior replied, giving the Asuran Medical Krewe leader a respectful bow, then stepped into Adelbern's chambers. In the mere ten days since Coran began his treatment, the differences were startling. The king was still thin, but Devona could see the vitality in his body and the drastically improved color to the monarch's skin. Also notably was that he was sitting up, rather than helplessly prone and barely able to move.

But Adelbern's voice still betrayed how close to death he had come. While the volume and vigor had improved, hints of the strangled rasp still remained as the old king spoke. "Greetings, Captain. What brings you to see me? Come, sit."

Devona bowed again, and sat down tentatively on the short stool at the king's bedside. "I know this may seem bold… but I would like to be reinstated in the Ascalon guard."

Adelbern's right eyebrow rose. "Is that so? That is indeed a audacious request; especially since I am fairly certain that I was quite clear that anyone who followed Rurik to Kryta would not be welcomed."

"Yes, well… you already demonstrated your forgiveness on that count by allowing my audience all those days ago, your highness."

The king chuckled faintly, "That I did, didn't I? Although I must ask what brings you make such a petition. It wouldn't have anything to do with my long-lost son, now would it?"

Devona couldn't manage to fight the blush. "It might… Coran and I… we're trying to 'get to know each other' again… that would be difficult to do with the Shiverpeaks in the way."

"I see… so the betrothal still stands, does it?"

At that point, Coran's voice interjected from the doorway, "It does; not that it is terribly much of your concern at the moment."

Once again, Devona found herself almost shivering at the cold intonation Coran's voice took as he addressed his father. "Your concern should be to regain your health. _Then_ you can worry about who is marrying whom and how to spoil your future grandchildren."

"Excuse me, my dear." Coran said, nudging her gently on the shoulder. Devona gave up her seat and let the prince take her place as he underwent another one of his routine examinations. Apparently, he was quite pleased with what he was uncovering, because he released a large, relieved sigh, even if the bitterness in his voice when addressing his father returned quickly. "I do believe you are through the worst of the illness. Now, I would recommend another two days of bed rest at least before you go stomping about on your hell-bent crusade to reclaim the lost lands of Ascalon… but since you've never listened to me before, I can't imagine why you will this time. Nonetheless, I think I can declare my work here completed."

He stood, bowed, then said in parting, "We shall be out of your presence within the hour. Do try and take care of yourself, your highness."

And with that, Coran was out the door, leaving two flabberghasted humans behind. It didn't take Devona long to stir to action, though, and she dashed out after the retreating prince, her demand echoing down the hall. "Where are you going?"

"I'm returning to Atal Ra." Coran answered darkly. "I've done what I set out to do here."

"You have responsibilities to Ascalon!" Devona shouted. "We all do!"

He scoffed and corrected, "No, I have responsibilities to Atal Ra. My father does not delegate power. He never has, and he never will. I see little point in me staying where I will be ignored. I will be where I am most needed… when that place becomes Ascalon again, I will return."

Devona's eyes grew dark. "So… you're just going to walk away from me… I mean, our country all over again?"

"If that's how you want to view it."

"Then I do believe our business _is_ concluded, Headmaster."

For a moment, Coran seemed hurt, but his composure quickly reasserted itself, "Yes, I suppose it is. Have a pleasant day, Captain."


	14. Chapter 14

(_And now for something completely different!_)

**Chapter Fourteen**

Pyre Fierceshot did not like what he was seeing.

"Uhhh… chief… didn't you kill him?" Gron Fierceclaw asked.

"One would think… but I should have figured that old shamans wouldn't stay dead." The Charr chieftain noted. "Stay here, and be on the lookout. I'm going in and scout just what old Flamemane is up to."

"But… he could be reporting to an army!"

"Which is precisely why only I'm going." Pyre retorted, slapping Gron across the back of the head. "If he does have friends, we have a greater chance of being spotted the more we have tramping about down there. You and Bonwar stay here. Keep watch. Make sure I'm not followed. I trust you can follow those simple commands."

And with that, Pyre Fierceshot slid into the cave, on the tail (figuratively speaking) of Grazz Flamemane, and whatever secret the shaman acolyte was hiding.

The trail was surprisingly linear, the tunnel eerily straight for several miles… it took one slight eastward bend before beginning another long straight stretch further into the earth. Pyre began to grow increasingly curious… he must be across the Northern Wall by now… what would the shamans be doing in mostly human lands?

For a moment, the Charr chief began to think that Grazz had made some sort of turn into a secret passageway, but then as the cavern took a steep downward slope, Pyre saw said shaman still advancing forward. Taking care not to drift into the shaman's range of scent, Pyre continued his pursuit.

"How damned far is your base, you sniveling peon?" Pyre muttered to himself. It felt like he had been following this underground river way all day. But, mercifully, just as the Charr ranger thought the accursed tunnel would never end, it finally emerged into a large cavern with a grand towering citadel of shimmering gold and brilliant light filling his vision.

Now, Pyre was not a religious being; in fact, the mere mention of gods or deities or other supernatural beings made him want to projectile vomit, then skewer whoever made such mention and roast said speaker over an open flame. But seeing the majesty of what was known as Atal Ra almost made Pyre mutter a small prayer to some unnamed god that even he had not known existed upon until that point.

In a trance, Pyre slowly strode forward, oblivious to the fact that he was now in the open, astonished by what was before his eyes. This was not the work of the shamans… who… was responsible for such a creation?

An abrupt set of sharp hisses snapped him out of his daze, and at that point, Pyre realized he had been surrounded by a cadre of Asura in tight blue uniforms, holding swords that would have classified as daggers in his hand on him. For a moment, Pyre was startled, then was more amused than anything else.

"How cute; the army is here." Pyre drawled. He took a threatening step forward, and sure enough, the Asura in his path jumped back defensively, still hissing with their disturbingly small, yet sharp teeth fully bared.

"Come on, I don't have time to play with you." The Charr chief said, taking another step forward and chuckling again as the "guards" retreated, all the while trying to be as intimidating as they possibly could. "One of my kind passed through here, and I suspect he's up to no good. So just step aside and let me… URK!"

At that moment, he felt something sharp stick into his rump, but before he could even begin to think on what it was, his entire body felt like it had been cracked with a stinging whip. His body jerked rigid and a mind-shatteringly intense burning flooded him from the top of his skull to the tips of his toes. Even the mighty Charr's hair stood on end and crackled from whatever he had been struck with; and the last sensation he had was what smelled like burning fur before the bliss of unconsciousness turned off his brain…

* * * * *

Elite Guard Kreweman Norrit slowly wound up the wires back into his device while the rest of his Krewe cheered heartily. Norrit's second in command, Elite Guard Kreweman Hewin slapped Norrit on the back, and crowed, "Incredible! The Treated Anode Superconductor and Electricity Redirector works like a charm!"

Norrit agreed with a vigorous nod, "Indubitably. This is truly a far less dangerous and more acceptable way to incapacitate an uncooperative intruder."

"Did you see the way his eyes rolled up in his head?" Another one of the Krewe laughed. "I don't think you'll ever see that expression on a Charr's face ever again!"

Finally, one Asura seemed to show concern for the victim. "Is… is he supposed to do that?"

At that point, attention was drawn to the felled Charr, the large being twitching violently with random spasms, a dribble of drool dripping down from his slack mouth.

Norrit then examined the T.A.S.E.R. with a practiced, discerning eye, and reached the conclusion, "Hmm… maybe we set it too high…"

* * * * *

Gwen did not like what she was seeing.

What was that menace Pyre up to now? She watched him set a couple of his near brain-dead goons at watch outside a cave that appeared to lead towards the Northern Wall. Was the Fierce clan trying to dig into Ascalon for a sneak attack? Or perhaps something even more sinister?

There was only one way to find out.

Getting past Bonwar and Gron wasn't difficult… much like cats teased with a ball of string, a well placed rock making noise in the hedges to the west drew their full, undivided attention for the few seconds she needed to slip past them and into the cave.

Rather quickly, her first fears of the Charr digging a tunnel to Ascalon were dashed. This was a natural creation, probably formed from the earthquakes that opened up the interior of Tyria to the surface world. Perhaps Pyre had found some horrific weapon that he was planning to unleash on the humans…

At times, Gwen lost sight of her quarry… but didn't dare get any closer because she knew first hand how sharp the Charr sense of smell could be. Fortunately, the path was pretty straightforward, and so keeping track of Pyre even without a clear line of sight wasn't difficult. Judging from the light tracks he was leaving, it seemed Pyre was also being cautious with his footing… like he was tracking someone himself.

This short adventure was getting weirder with each passing moment.

And it only got weirder once she reached the end of the tunnel, and into the cavern that housed the heart of Asuran learning… not that she knew that. All she knew for certain was that whatever it was looked amazing… and was also rather hard to look at.

Taking three steps forward into the cavern, she quickly found herself surrounded by a small group of hissing Asura. Clearly, they did not approve of Gwen's presence, and she tried to quell any hostility by raising her hands in a non-threatening gesture.

"Uhhh… hey there." The young mesmer said nervously, twiddling her fingers in a meek attempt at greeting. "I don't mean to trespass… I'm just looking for a mean ol' Charr that might have come this way…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Devona had been grumpy and brooding for the past four days… and none knew it better than the Ascalon City regiment that had been placed under her capable command upon her reinstatement.

They knew it in every abused muscle in their bodies.

"Captain… ma'am…" the soldier at the head of formation gasped, hands on his knees.

"I do not remember calling you to ease, Lieutenant… or any of you, for that matter." Devona snapped, her eyes spitting disdain at the other twenty-four men and women of the unit, who were in equal states of fatigue.

"Captain, we've been drilling for six hours straight. You haven't even given us leave to relieve ourselves." He protested.

Devona's voice turned falsetto. "Oh… you're right. Because I'm sure you'll be given ample opportunities for potty breaks during battle! Or that the Charr will most certainly let you sit down and regain your strength before launching another attack… because they're just a sporting group of beings, am I right?"

Before the poor, haggard lieutenant could respond, Devona bellowed, "Of course you won't get those things! So _why_, in the name of all things holy, should you expect such things as you are _preparing_ for it?"

"I…"

The warrior had a full head of steam at that point, and pointed towards the barracks in fury. "For that little bit of insubordination, Lieutenant, you and the rest of the unit get to continue the drills in full armor! Get going; you have fifteen minutes! If even one of you is late, we'll get to start off with a nice jog around the city!"

The men and women under her command took off at full speed to gather their equipment, to which Devona sneered, "Goodness, I guess you fools weren't so tired after all!"

Aidan couldn't manage to keep a straight face as Devona turned to him, grumbling about her lazy, worthless soldiers. "And what do you find so amusing, ranger?" She snarled.

Unlike the greenhorns under Devona's command, Aidan knew better than to be overly intimidated by the warrior. He, after all, had seen far worse than a bitter warrior who felt betrayed. "I never would have figured you to be one to take your frustrations out on others."

"My frustrations? Why would I have frustrations?" She attempted to say flippantly.

Aidan shook his head, "Don't you think you're over-reacting? I'm relieved you didn't fall in love before… you're insufferable when you're like this."

"_I'm_ insufferable?" Devona challenged, jerking her right thumb against her chest. "_I'm_ not the one who got an entire nation's hopes up, only to dash them on the cold ground. _I'm_ not the one who decided to hide in his damned little hole. _I'm_ not the one who ran away… twice!"

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Aidan said crossly. "And I find your actions on this score to be grossly unacceptable."

"You think _I'm_ wrong?" The warrior nearly screeched. "If you were under my command…"

"Well, I am _not_ under your command." The ranger retorted, "I follow you by choice, but unless you snap out of your pity parade, I may just choose to not to. If you don't want that to happen, you will listen to me."

Aidan very rarely confronted Devona in any fashion, and normally it was more like words of advisement so as not to appear to be subverting Devona's authority in their group. So, to see the ranger so adamant and defiant was definitely new, and enough of a shock that she complied.

"What did King Adelbern say when you tromped into an audience with him, and demanded that the bond be severed?" Aidan asked.

Devona frowned. "How did you know that?"

"I have good ears."

The warrior sighed dejectedly. "He asked why, so I told him." She quickly sensed that wasn't the answer Aidan was looking for, and so she added, "He told me not to be so hasty."

"And why is that?"

Devona began to grow suspicious. "Why do I suspect you already know exactly what happened in my audience with the King?"

"Now, how would I have gotten such exclusive information?" Aidan asked with faux innocence. "I am merely curious because the bonding was not annulled, and considering your feelings on the matter, I can't imagine what he could have said that changed your mind."

Devona sagged down to a sitting position. "He basically told me everything Coran accused him of; that there was nothing that Adelbern needed Coran for; and that Coran had obviously accomplished much since they were separated; and that he was proud of what his son has done to reach such levels of acclaim among the normally distrustful Asura; and that he could fully understand why Coran would be reluctant to return to a place where he wasn't needed at this time. Finally, the king said that there wasn't any reason he could see to break the bonding, and didn't understand why I would be compelled to either. I couldn't exactly insist at that point, now could I?"

"So you disagree with the assessment?" Aidan asked; taking a seat to Devona's right.

"No… I suppose… I don't." The warrior admitted, her eyes passively following a wisp of dust stirred up by an abrupt gust of wind. "King Adelbern does not delegate power. Grenth take us, we personally witnessed several spats between Prince Rurik and his father because the latter would not surrender even the slightest bit of authority. They even started assembling their own separate guard details because of it."

"So, if Coran's judgment was correct; why are you so mad at him?"

"I guess I don't have a reason." She declared dismissively.

"I find that as hard to believe as Cynn's declaration that she was eschewing combat so as not to risk the baby."

That got Devona to chuckle… but her face quickly returned to its downcast state. "I know it's silly. I know it's stupid… but I can't help it. Do… do you know how much I cried when Rurik came to my home nine years ago, and said Coran disappeared? For weeks, I was certain it was something I had done. Of course, the Searing happened soon after, and I didn't have much time to worry about it after that. I guess… seeing him leave again… it dredged up all that old hurt and old memories…"

She then punched the parched earth to her side, and groaned. "Why am I doing this? Why am I being so… so…"

"Female?" Aidan offered with a teasing grin.

"I was going to say, emotional." She responded, her next punch landing on the ranger's shoulder, momentarily knocking him off balance. "Alright, wise one… what do I do now?"

Aidan tapped an index finger to his chin, and said, "Well… here's a novel idea; you could… I don't know… try _talking_ to the wayward prince. As far as I am aware, he hasn't collapsed the convenient tunnel the Asurans dug roughly oh… a half mile from the city limits."

Fate, however, seemed to make such a trip unnecessary, as a town crier dashed into the center of the city bellowing, "Hear me, people of Ascalon City! The crown prince, Coran, is here! He's at the southern farmlands as we speak!"

Devona blinked rapidly as the crier sped past again, carrying his message and stirring the haggard and lethargic populous. Aidan smiled, and gestured with his head to the south. "How remarkably convenient."

The warrior fought back her first instinct, then said, "But… I have soldiers to drill…"

Aiden gave her a rough, yet friendly, shove on the back. "Go. I think I can manage to keep your men entertained while you handle some personal affairs that need serious attention."

Devona slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Very well… inform Warmaster Tydus that I have finished my duties for the day. Don't go easy on the soldiers, Aidan. I may have been cranky, but I meant every word I said."

"Go… I'll arrange the rest."

* * * * *

Okay, so the last of the unit was a few seconds late by his reckoning. At first, it didn't seem like it would be a problem, since Captain Devona was surprisingly absent by the time ranks were fully reformed. Instead, two of her personal guild were standing before them.

"Gentlemen, I can't help but notice you missed Captain Devona's deadline." Aidan declared. "I think you all know the repercussions of that… you get to take a nice jog around the city. Lady Cynn, do you have anything to add?"

Devona was not the only one who had been grumpy the last four days. Ever since her daily massage therapy was abruptly cancelled, the elementalist had been looking for anyone and everyone she could take it out on. With a snap of her fingers, a crackling ball of fire burst to life and hovered above her fingertips. "I know the Captain promised you a jog…" she drawled, rolling the fireball about her twiddling digits, "… but I suspect it will be in your best interests to _run_…"


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Devona froze. It was really him… here… in Ascalon.

She couldn't tell what exactly what was going on from her position, she was too far away and his back was to her… but he appeared to be addressing and demonstrating something to the farmers of the southern fields. Perhaps if she got closer, she'd learn more.

Her footsteps were light and stealthy, as if she was afraid of spooking an animal that would run at the first instinct of being discovered… or as if she was afraid it was all an illusion, and didn't want the dream dashed once she got too close.

She stopped herself, straightened, and took a deep breath. This was silly… was she twelve? She was fairly certain she wouldn't have to chase him around the neighborhood and tackle him anymore. Another deep breath, and her next strides were deliberate… perhaps a little too much so as her greaves clanked heavily on the dusty earth, drawing the attention of even the scarce wildlife nearby.

Coran was startled by the sudden sound, but certainly didn't panic, and in fact, once he identified the source of the footfalls, his face brightened. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

His first words were somewhat nervous, nonetheless, "Good day to you… Captain… I hope I'm not interrupting any maneuvers. If… if I am… I can gladly reloc…"

At that point, Devona was nearly plastered on him, and she silenced his lips with hers.

Okay… that wasn't entirely in her plan, but she could work with it. At least… until she remembered they had an audience. At that point, she jumped back as if she had been scalded. "I… I apologize… that wasn't what I meant to do." She stumbled, rocking on her feet in discomfort, her entire face burning red.

"Well, I must admit I approve of your improvisation." Coran answered. Why couldn't he be as flustered as she was? Now she felt even _more_ out of place.

But, even if the prince didn't share her discomfort, he clearly identified hers, as well as the source of said discomfort. "Alright, gentlemen, class time is over. You know what you need to do. One green bag of seed for your fields, and everyone with a waterway or large body of water on their property is to take one blue bag of algae. Get moving, now."

When the astonished farmers didn't react quite as quickly as Coran would have liked, his tone dropped and reiterated his orders more firmly, momentarily jerking Devona from her adolescent crushing. Of course, the hopelessly smitten blush returned full force when he turned back towards her, and gave her a lopsided grin.

Damn Aidan, he was right. She was acting so damned female… and certainly not suitable for a person of her standing and stature. She really should have a problem with the way she was behaving…

… Anytime, really…

… Like right now…

… Well, maybe not "right now" right now…

… Maybe in a few moments…

At that point, Coran had put his hands gently on her waist, and leaned his forehead against hers. "I do apologize for the distraction. Now, where were we?"

"I think you were complimenting me for my improvising." She replied, then nervously added, "What… I thought you had left."

"I did." The prince answered. "And when the Krewe reports that everything has been distributed properly, I'll do so again. There's still a copious amount of work that has to be done in Atal Ra… even if my plan was to abandon my position the moment the Asurans have secured everything they seek within the Academy. However, someone told me that I have responsibilities to this kingdom… and in retrospect, said person was probably right. So, every so often, I suppose it would be prudent to emerge from my cave dwelling, and use my influence to exact some of those responsibilities."

One hand moved from her waist to just under her chin. "I wasn't running away. I learned that lesson nine years ago. Anything you need, anything at all… do not hesitate to bring it to me."

"And if I said I needed you here?" Devona queried softly, testing his empty promise for what it really was.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"You know what I mean." The warrior answered glumly.

"My father can't live forever… even if it may seem like it at times. Nor will he always be fit to perform all the duties of the monarchy, even if he denies such a day will ever come." Coran said lightly. "There will come a time where I will be needed here in Ascalon. When that time comes, I will return for good."

She allowed her frown to twist upward warily. "I suppose that will have to do for now." Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she leaned into him, her forehead resting on his chin as his arms snaked around her middle warmly.

A cough interrupted the moment, and Devona didn't even need to see who it was to know who… the warm, loving aura that had been surrounding her turned to ice, the prince's heartbeat, which had been swift and calming slowed to a disturbing crawl, and his muscles tensed in annoyance.

"When I heard you were here, I wasn't sure I wanted to believe it." King Adelbern declared as Coran stepped back from Devona and turned his back to the king. "But… you honestly have nothing to say to your own father?"

"All that needed to be said was said nine years ago." Coran retorted sharply. Devona's mind was gradually starting to catch up to the drastic shift in the climate of her surroundings. She involuntarily hugged herself from the chill that she swore she could feel in the air.

To her astonishment, Adelbern did not respond the way Devona assumed he would. Rather than the defiant, confrontational rebuke the warrior expected, the monarch was morose and apologetic. "Is that still the wedge driven between me and my only living child? Coran… I know the errors I have made. I should have… paid note to your misgivings. I was wrong, but I have learned my lesson. Please…"

That plea definitely stirred something in the prince, but it wasn't forgiveness. "Learned your lesson?" He snarled bitterly. "_Learned your lesson?_ Is _that_ what you think this is about?"

Four strides placed Coran face to face with his father. "Do you think the dead care that you 'learned your lesson'? Do you think that the survivors that lost everything due to your foolishness, your stubborn pride, your inconceivable disregard… do you think they will forgive you because you 'learned your lesson'? You give them _this_…" His right hand gestured broadly towards the horizon, "Your inane desire to reclaim what was lost caused everyone, not just you, to lose _everything_. But that's okay… because you 'learned your lesson', is that it? Perhaps if you would stop to think that maybe, just maybe, it isn't all about _you_, then just maybe could you get to the heart of my ire."

"Headmaster Coran!" An Asuran voice squealed; the small being dashing as fast as his little legs could carry him from the south. "Urgent notice from Atal Ra, sir!"

And once again, as swiftly as he had shifted from loving to furious, Coran's mood altered to level headed business. He gave the messenger a slight bow, and once the pleasantries were returned, took the shimmering white page from the Asura and unfolded it. "It appears we will have to continue our debate another time, father. Unexpected events have occurred below, and I must address them promptly."

The king was so staggered from his son's violent eruption that his head moved in acknowledgement before his brain could catch up. Coran paused momentarily before leaving, then locked eyes with Devona. "One more thing, with your permission, I would ask that Captain Devona assemble her guild and report in at Atal Ra. What I discover may affect Ascalon, and it's only fair your people are represented."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"Well… Flamemane, it's been a while." Pyre Fierceshot drawled from behind the surprisingly imposing metal bars separating him from the former shaman. "You could have told me you were still kicking. Maybe stopped by my stead… shared some roast dolyak and black wine. It would have been like old times. Come on, don't you have anything to say? Speak up, old friend… oh wait… that's right."

The Charr chief didn't even have to lean back, knowing full well that Grazz's reach wouldn't be enough as the once shaman took a quick swipe through the bars. "Goodness, I don't remember you having such a temper. You really should talk to someone about it… oh dear, I did it again, didn't I?"

"Grazz, stand down." A human voice ordered, and Pyre chuckled disdainfully at Grazz as the Charr obeyed.

"Listening to mice now, are we, Flamemane?" The ranger teased. "So desperate to have something to worship that you're bending your knee towards these diminutive rejects and humans? You're even more pathetic and weak than I remem..."

Pyre's taunt turned into a roar of pain as he discovered that while Grazz's reach wasn't enough to strike him… the human's arm, assisted by a most unpleasant looking spear, was. The barbed head pierced Pyre in his left shoulder, causing far more pain than it rightfully should… so painful in fact that the mighty Charr chief likely wouldn't have been able to move his arms even if they hadn't been bound behind his back.

"I'd wager you didn't know that two of the primary nerve clusters that collect and distribute information from the Charr nervous system are located just beneath each clavicle, did you?" The human paragon said grimly. "Quite painful if said cluster is damaged, really… not to mention quite permanently crippling. I'm quite tempted to forgo any interrogation and sever said cluster right now and steal away your ability to move any muscle on your left side from now until the day you expire."

The spear head retreated, and Pyre found that he could actually think once again. That was little comfort however.

"If I am a mouse, then your kind are mere insects… fit only to be dissected and studied in the name of science. If you cooperate, I will have your wounds healed. If not, I will demonstrate on you just how I learned the Charr physiology so intimately."

"Can we do that anyway?" A human female's voice queried from out of Charr's line of vision.

"Eve, quiet." Another human chided… but both voices were ones that Pyre was more familiar with.

"Well, if it isn't the Heroes of Ascalon. After all we went through together, I find it distressing that you are on that side of this cage while I am on this one."

"You are speaking to me. Not them." The paragon reminded, his spear now sliding through the bars at Pyre's right side. "I have already been informed of your dealings with my allies, but the denizens of Atal Ra have never taken trespass on their lands lightly, a tendency I share. You will answer my questions, and I will decide what to do with you then."

"May I at least first have the courtesy of knowing the name of my questioner? I'm already at enough of a disadvantage, I would think."

"I am the Headmaster of Atal Ra. That's all you need to know at this juncture. Now… why did you come here?"

Pyre nodded subtly towards Grazz and said, "I was following Flamemane."

"Why?"

"The remnants of the shamans have been gathering just north of Ascalon's precious wall. I saw Flamemane leave. Thinking he might be delivering messages to another unit, I followed to scout. He led me here and into the loving arms of your Asuran friends. Quite vicious little creatures, if I may be honest. No idea how to properly treat guests."

The Headmaster turned to Grazz, who started gesturing in what Pyre guessed was some sort of sign code. "Apparently, he was coming here to inform me of precisely the gathering you found." The human paragon affirmed. "Do you have any idea what they might be doing?"

"Whenever shamans get together, it never means any good for anyone." Pyre answered, stopping when he realized the Headmaster was still addressing Grazz and not him.

"Whatever they are doing, I do believe I'm of Pyre's opinion…"

A cacophony of shouts from the end of the attention hall interrupted his further musings. "Headmaster! We got another one!"

Pyre snarled. "I told those fools to stay outside the cave… I swear if one of my clan followed me, you won't need to interrogate him, I'll kill him myself."

"Who did you find?" The headmaster demanded.

"It's a human! She came after that Charr… I think they might be in cahoots!"

The paragon slapped his forehead. "For the love of the gods..."

"Gwen!" Devona's voice exclaimed.

"Who?" The headmaster queried.

"Gwen… she's one of the Ebon Vanguard lieutenants serving underneath Captain Langmar." The attendant next to the headmaster explained, which Pyre just noticed was wearing Vanguard colors herself. "She was probably tracking Pyre here like he was tracking Grazz… trying to figure out what in the Bone Wastes was going on."

The Asuran guards drug the female mesmer's boneless body up to the headmaster, who groaned in displeasure. "We figured you would question her like the other prisoner. By the way, I think we fixed the calibration issues on the T.A.S.E.R. This one didn't twitch nearly as long as the Charr."

The paragon ripped the infernal device out of the Asurans hands, and exclaimed, "Give me that before you kill somebody!"

Pyre couldn't fight back his laughter. "I never knew 'headmaster' was merely a fancy word for 'babysitter'…"

The paragon whipped the device in Pyre's direction, and said, "I actually know how to use this thing. Don't push it." He ran his right hand through his hair, and finally ordered, "Alright… get some monks down here to try and resuscitate Gwen… right? And… patch up Fierceshot here as well. When everyone is conscious and properly healed up, we'll meet in Large Member Conferencing Chamber Three for a proper briefing and just what we plan to do about it."

"Even the Charr?" The Asuran guards asked.

"Even the Charr, as it appears his appearance here was case of mistaken allegiances, rather than any attempt at violence. He means this academy no direct harm, and perhaps might even be of use to us."

* * * * *

Both Gwen and Pyre were in for a few surprises before business even went underway. It occurred when one of the Asuran students stepped in…

"Headmaster Coran… do you require anything else?"

The young man again slapped his forehead, and muttered, "No… that will be all… thank you…"

Pyre blinked rapidly, wondering why that name should be familiar to him when Gwen's eyes bulged and she pointed in astonishment. "You… you're supposed to be dead!"

"I've been getting that a lot lately as the under and upper worlds have finally met." He muttered, "But as you can see, I clearly am not, and I will grudgingly accept all your queries and whatnot _after_ our business is concluded."

"What is our business, then?" Devona asked before Pyre could manage himself.

"Yes, I trust Flamemane was able to get a lot closer to whatever the shamans are doing than I was." The Charr chief noted ruefully.

"Not really." Coran answered. "Most of the shamans that had gathered were unknown to him, and he didn't feel confident that he would be accepted among their number. The best he could gather was that the Charr were attempting to dig up something… apparently from quite deep within the earth. But what concerned me more was that Grazz reported some strange black being leading them that he couldn't adequately describe. Could you add something to that, Chief Fierceshot?"

Pyre shook his head, "Yes and no. I definitely saw what Flamemane saw… this… thing… black as onyx, floating just above the ground and giving orders. But I couldn't give you a good description; I have never seen anything like it before. All I know is what I said earlier; whenever the shamans get together, no good is going to come out of it."

"Should we inform the king about this?" Devona added.

"No." Coran insisted sternly. "I am not going to allow my father to screw this up as well. Chief Fierceshot, how large of a force do you think will be needed to break up the shaman presence?"

Pyre thought on this, "Most of the shamans' attention is focused on whatever they're digging up. I suspect a small force would probably be more effective than an army. If we hit hard and fast enough without alerting our presence… we could have half the encampment dead before they even knew what was happening. And it wouldn't take me long to mobilize my tribe either. Depending on just how much of a presence you're planning on bringing, we could move out immediately."

"Good. The less people we can involve in this strike, the better." Coran acknowledged. "Devona, are you and your guild up to this task?"

The warrior silently addressed her comrades in arms, and was satisfied by the equally silent response. "Certainly."

Coran then turned to his contingent. "Yue, Grazz, and Vekk… have the First Elite Defense Krewe issued and ready in one hour." Then his eyes focused on Gwen, "Would you wish to accompany us as well, miss? I understand you have some considerable experience working with many already committed as it is."

"I'm always ready for a chance to grind Charr to gravel." The mesmer growled, then added with a glance in Pyre's direction, "Present company occasionally excepting."

Doing some quick math in his head, "That will give us twenty-five on my end."

"I currently have thirteen able bodied for combat that could be ready for a fight by the time you're all ready to march. That should be enough for what we have planned." Pyre added on.

"Good… then we shall plan for departure in one hour at the northern tunnel of Atal Ra." Coran stood up, and without further word left the chamber to prepare. The last time the Charr shamans had planned something on the scale being reported, Coran had been unable to stop it. This time would be different.

It had to be.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

It hadn't been that long ago that Gwen had parted ways with many of the people she was now traveling with. Not even a handful of months, really; but rejoining many old faces, it felt like it had been years.

The relationships that had emerged from that time especially were jarring to the young mesmer. She wasn't surprised to learn that Cynn and Mhenlo married… that attraction had been rather obvious, even to her. But to learn that the oft prissy elementalist was _pregnant_; that was something she couldn't quite wrap her mind around. That had to be some sort of sick joke… Cynn was just putting on a little weight.

Of course, it wasn't. The argument that burst in flames (literally and figuratively) as the father-to-be tried to convince the mother-to-be to remain in Atal Ra couldn't have been contrived. She wasn't sure if she should offer prayers to the coming child… or to the world that would host that coming child.

And Pyre… what had possessed him? That arrogant… conniving… bigoted… bloated sack of kindling and fur… she still couldn't figure out what had gotten into him. He had apologized (or attempted to, she supposed) for his actions in the past; something that Gwen would never have expected from the proud Fierce clan chief…

"You could have told me you weren't entirely on the side of the shamans." Pyre had said to the Charr named Grazz. "If I had known you were offering information on their actions to… well… actually… I would have still ripped your throat out. I… I… damn… what I'm trying to say is… I was an idiot back then. Probably still an idiot now. You're not the brainwashed excuse for a Charr I thought you were. If I could do it all over again with what I know now; I would have merely run you out of my stead with your buttocks filled with arrows or something… or… damnit. I'm not good at this sort of thing, understand? You think this is funny, you little mouse? I'll give you something to laugh about…"

Apparently Gwen had started chuckling at the memory, because she heard Pyre's low growl, and turned her head to see the Charr ranger glaring daggers at her. Pulled from her reverie, she again returned to her people watching.

The others hadn't seemed to change much, and for that, she supposed she should be grateful. Aidan was still as quiet and sage as she remembered, Eve was still creepy, and Vekk was… well… Vekk.

Truth be told, she had no idea what to think of the Asuran prodigy _before_, much less now. To this day, he, and all the Asura for that matter, remained so… alien… nothing like any of the other races she had ever met. The Norn, Dwarves, and even the Charr, all with different morals, traditions, customs, and methods; but after some time, she came to understand them. The Asura… well… all she could figure out was that they made stuff, seemingly on a whim, and used them with rather equal disregard. Her rear bore the brunt of that fact.

Her musings on Vekk didn't even keep her attention all that long, even to her it was a preamble to the most prominent change in the group.

She knew Prince Coran… at least in the way the typical peasant or lower noble would know the monarchy. Perhaps it was better to say she knew _of_ him… even if most of the things she remembered happened when she was so young that they didn't come to the fore of her mind all that quickly. The only thing that was readily remarkable was the momentary sorrow that had befallen her mother when it was declared the prince had died… but mostly because his death (or more accurately now, his disappearance) seemed to have been the first of a disastrous chain of events that included the Searing, and her imprisonment at the hands of the Charr.

In a way, he was as difficult to figure out as the Asura, which made sense to some degree, since he had been trained by them. And as if to add to the aura of mystery, he had been trained as a Paragon; a profession she didn't really know much of outside of it originating in Elona.

But at the same time; she knew all to well the determined, barely repressed anger that was driving him on this mission. Even as he chatted amiably, she swore she could almost see the hairs on his arms bristle as his mind no doubt harbored thoughts of the shamans converging with some as of yet unknown purpose. No doubt it brought to his mind the same catastrophe as it did her, and the anger of the lost lives, both among others, and within themselves.

In that, she felt a connection to the prince… something that it appeared only they shared. Sure, every human in present company felt anger and sorrow and loss at the Searing… but to Coran, like herself… she could sense he felt some sort of personal anger in regards to the cataclysm. It was something that burned in the both of them… unlike the others, who viewed the Searing in how it destroyed Ascalon. To Coran and Gwen, they both saw the Searing in how it destroyed them.

Yet, even as he himself was a significant change to the old party… his presence alone also seemed to evoke change in the others; the most glaring being in Devona. Gwen remembered the warrior as a kind enough soul; someone who she admired for much of her young life. She remembered wistfully wishing she would one day be as pretty and strong; getting so excited when Devona had given her a handful of self-defense lessons to keep the skales at bay. Devona had been invincible in the eyes of the young Gwen, and to a great extent even now.

Yet, watching the interaction between Devona and the prince… it didn't seem right. The warrior seemed nervous, yet also at ease. They had been talking nearly non-stop since the regiment of sorts assembled at the natural exit of the Atal Ra cavern and began their march; sometimes serious business like strategy or what they might find; to casual banter that astonished Gwen. It seemed innocuous enough on the surface… but there was also a deeply personal connection that the young mesmer didn't understand. She had never really sensed such an unspoken undertone before…

"Coran… I know this is a bit off topic… but it's been bothering me." Devona said. "Did you really learn about the Charr by… you know…"

The prince laughed softly, "I can assure you, all the subjects I studied, no matter their race, had expired long before I began digging around."

"Oddly enough, when I do that, I'm considered a menace." Eve quipped.

Devona gave Eve a nasty glare, like the necromancer was trying to get the warrior to share a toy she wasn't keen on sharing.

Gwen had been startled by the possessiveness Devona had displayed with merely her eyes. The only emotions she had experienced that intensely had been hate and anger… and while the momentarily dislike Devona had cast Eve's way had a hint of that, the power Gwen was feeling was clearly coming from something else.

The young mesmer was no closer to answers as she sat by the campfire Aidan and Pyre had started when it was decided it was best to hold for the night and finish their march the following day. Just as before, Devona kept very close proximity to the prince, her attention so focused on Prince Coran that it probably explained how the warrior seemed to have no inkling that Gwen's eyes had been following her movements closely.

Devona stood momentarily to approach the fire, looking back towards the prince as she pointed to the rabbit meat that was cooking over the flames on a makeshift spit. Even such innocent actions carried that intense, unfamiliar feeling… so thick Gwen could almost taste it.

At that moment, the young mesmer was harkened to her earlier admirations. Even when she had been barely old enough to understand the differences between boys and girls, Gwen had known Devona was pretty. It had been obvious to her even then. But the warrior was more than that. Gwen was suddenly aware of the smooth, fluid, finely honed curves as Devona leaned over the fire. Devona was beautiful.

And even with the simple movement necessary to take one marginally straight twig off the spit frame, she could almost feel the powerful muscles within the warrior's body move as if they were her own. Her strength... strength Gwen had admired… no… strength the mesmer had _envied_… Devona was truly everything Gwen had wished she could be; even as she knew she couldn't.

Again, Devona took her seat, prying away roughly half of the rabbit meat from the stick and giving it to the prince with a smile that must have warmed his heart as much as it did Gwen's. It was so fortunate that the two appeared completely engrossed in each other, because Gwen at that point didn't care that she was outright leering at the scene before her eyes.

"Don't even go there, mouse."

Pyre's voice felt like stones rubbing together, creeping down her spine. It took so long for her mind to switch gears and move forward that the Charr ranger had sat down heavily on the log next to her and had engulfed half his meal (stick and all) before the mesmer could even formulate her oh so eloquent reply.

"What?"

Pyre laughed derisively. "I have no idea what compels you mice to behave the way you do… all this love nonsense and soulmates or whatever you all call it. Those are just pretty words you use to make your base primal urges seem better than ours."

Gwen still wasn't completely following, her eyes torn between Devona, Prince Coran, and Pyre. "I… what are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know." Pyre snorted. "I can see it in your eyes. Leave the silliness that is human attraction to the adults. I can promise you aren't ready for what's in your mind."

Of course, Pyre might as well have dared Gwen to do exactly the opposite. She jumped to her feet, looked down on the Charr. "You think so? Don't even pretend to think you know what I'm ready for."

With a grim determination, she crossed the circle, and came to a stop at her destination. Dropping to both knees, her focus momentarily failed as both the prince and Devona turned their attention to her. Focusing on the warrior, she could have slapped herself at her timid squeak of "Devona?"

Devona blinked twice; then smiled in an attempt to assure the young mesmer. "What is it, Gwen? Is something wrong?"

Gwen said nothing more, instead swiftly framed the warrior's face between her hands, and crushed her lips to Devona's.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Whatever Gwen had been feeling… it was gone now.

Devona went completely rigid, every muscle tensed, and her eyes bulged, stupefied. Not the reaction one would hope for in this case, although Gwen couldn't entirely disagree. The warm, unfamiliar feeling in her gut was replaced with a cold, clammy… "ick" sensation.

The young mesmer pulled away, her lip trembling as the weight of what she had done begun to register, and the mistake it was. Devona remained petrified, though her own lips managed to ask, "What are you doing?"

At that same moment, Gwen whispered in agreement, "What am I doing?"

With her decompression, Gwen also began to absorb the fact that there were spectators, evidenced by the dull thud of what sounded like a person crumpling, and Yue's voice drawling, "Oh, for Lyssa's sake, like you've never seen two girls kiss before."

"Actually, I haven't." Was Aidan's muted reply.

The next response came from Pyre, who contrary to his normal façade, was clearly astonished. "Well… that was not what I was expecting."

The sounds of quiet prayer came from Gwen's left, Mhenlo's entreaty of, "Forgive me Dwayna, for I had impure thoughts…" was cut off by the sound of a foot meeting flesh, and a pained moan of, "Did it have to be the kidney, lovely?"

"Humph!" Was Cynn's grunted reply.

Vekk seemed curious by the exchange, as he asked, "I am assuming this is not normal behavior among humans? Interesting…"

Finally, the prince himself felt to weigh in, but unlike the surprise of everyone else, his voice seemed amused by the display, and his quip reinforced said amusement. "Don't stop now. It was starting to get good."

At that point, retreat seemed like Gwen's only option, and so she did, with little subtlety into the darkness and towards whatever hiding place she could find. Of course, the ruined landscape north of the wall didn't provide many options, but she found one that would be suitable, a cleft in the earth that could shroud her from most sentient beings… or at least she thought.

"While I suspect that particular divot might have proved more than adequate to shroud yourself from prying eyes as a pre-adolescent, I fear you have grown past its cover at this point."

Gwen paused at the sound of the prince's voice, then raised her head, quickly discovering that the cleft was not nearly as large as it had appeared at first glance… in fact, everything above her waist was in plain sight.

"I can't even hide right anymore." The mesmer whimpered.

Coran shook his head, "Especially considering that wandering about alone in this environment is a rather dangerous proposition. We're trying to be covert, and it really doesn't suit that mission to go dashing off blindly."

"Devona must hate me right now." Gwen sobbed, rubbing her nose with her forearm.

The prince lowered himself cross-legged next to the forlorn girl, and tapped his chin with one index finger. "Anger and hate were not in my impression of her mood. I think she's too busy wondering what spawn of Grenth possessed you to be particularly agitated… although I must admit my curiosity in the rationale for your actions myself."

"I… I don't know anymore. I mean, I admired Devona since I was a child, she was always so… everything."

Coran nodded in agreement, "Indeed. I can fully understand that."

"Since this mission started, I kinda felt warm and tingly when she was around. Then Pyre told me not to get involved in this attraction nonsense or whatever he called it. But… I guess he had the right idea, huh?"

Coran shrugged. "Well, what I will say is that such confusion about feelings and especially romantic feelings is hardly unusual. Normally, you'd have your entire adolescent years to sort out these things, but I suspect you were forced to grow up so quickly that you never got the chance."

The prince suddenly turned his head away, off into the ever darkening landscape, and became eerily quiet. Startled by the sudden shift in his demeanor, Gwen tentatively asked, "Your… highness… is something wrong?"

"I'd rather you not call me 'highness', my lady. I haven't exactly had much room to look down on anyone in my life. If you simply cannot bear to refer to me by my given name, 'Headmaster' will suffice."

Gwen gulped… the idea of referring to any member of the royal family with such familiarity was too much for her to swallow, so she grasped at the other option provided. "Very well… Headmaster… what's bothering you?"

The paragon's gloved spear hand dug into the charred earth, "I shouldn't have taken you to task for running away. I've been running away myself for far too long."

"What do you mean?"

"I ran from my father after an argument. I ran from the kingdom, from my responsibilities… from those I loved and cared for. Had I been stronger… had I been more like the man I was supposed to be… I could have avoided all this."

He exhaled sharply, and continued, "Even now, I'm running in a way. I see Devona as well, young Gwen… and I feel the same things. Yet… I can't… I see the hurt in her eyes when she speaks of Ascalon as it once was and when she walks on its current desolation... and I realize that my sins caused that hurt. We're… bonded, and I can't even bring myself to actually marry the girl. Still think you're pathetic?"

Gwen paused, "I'm not sure what I think anymore."

"You'll sort it out."

The mesmer bit her lip, then asked, "Do you think I'm one of… _those_ type of girls?"

The prince seemed amused by Gwen's attempt at tact. "You mean, the girls that like other girls? If I had to make an educated guess, I don't think you are. Once the deed had been done, you looked about as ill as my dear Devona. But, I suppose I can see how you might be confused. After all, Captain Langmar probably…" He paused as he noted Gwen's boggled expression. "Oh come on, surely you're not _that_ naïve. Haven't you wondered why all or next to all of Langmar's confidantes is female? It's fortunate she's such a good officer, because her lack of subtlety might have caused trouble with the more stodgy superiors otherwise."

Gwen suddenly saw her captain's "good luck pats" in a tragically different light…

At that point, his eyelids narrowed in curiosity. "Why would it matter anyway? You are who you are, whatever that turns out to be. There are so many unique traits on this pebble that if we got queasy or antagonized over every deviation from the norm, no one would ever have a moment's peace. Besides, if you think humanity can get strange, you don't even _want_ to know the sort of mischief the Asura get to when they're feeling amorous."

"No… I don't think I do." Gwen replied with a groan. "I… I suppose we should return to camp, huh?"

"It would probably be prudent." The prince answered. Quickly sensing Gwen's reluctance, he added, "Devona is worried about you, not angry. She was going to tear off after you herself until I convinced her that it would be best for someone else to follow at that moment. It takes a lot more than a girl on girl kiss to keep those battle hardened veterans distracted for any length of time, trust me. They're going to be too busy with the task at hand to care."

"I doubt Pyre will…" Gwen grumped.

Coran bit his lower lip, and grabbed something hooked to the belt at his hip. "Well… Guard Kreweman Norrit probably won't like me giving someone else his toy… but…" He handed the device, a small black box with a dial in the center, a long red button on the left side, and two prongs at the top, to Gwen, and said, "Don't fiddle with the settings… but if Pyre gets out of line, just point at his rump, and give the button a push. I suspect that will modify his behavior quite nicely."

After a moment's thought, he also said casually, "And if… the T.A.S.E.R. just _happens_ to go off accidentally and hits poor Norrit at some point after our mission is completed, I certainly wouldn't be able to fault you for such an unfortunate malfunction, right?"

That gift proved to be what finally put a smile on the young woman's face. The coming morning was promising to be a bright one…


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

The morning was trickling in over the eastern horizon as the strike force took position to analyze their enemy and prepare for their strike. Coran had beaten Devona to the order to move around the perimeter of the work site to the eastern side, where the rising sun would help shroud them from prying eyes and give them an even greater element of surprise as they attacked.

From the higher ground afforded to the east, the group was able to get a good view of the activity, as well as the mysterious being that was leading the efforts of the Shamans… a being that a surprising number of people were able to quickly identify.

"That's a Seer…" Devona whispered.

"That's a Bookah…" Vekk mumbled in astonishment, his eyelids bulged wide.

Instantly, the human contingent's attention turned towards the Asuran. "That's… what you call a Bookah? For real?" Devona asked.

Vekk nodded distractedly, like he was still trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. "Yes… yes… that's the image in all the children's stories… that large, hideous, frightening thing… it's… it's like somewhat drew that monster down there right out of our stories…"

"You've encountered this being before?" Coran asked Devona.

Devona shrugged. "Maybe not that one specifically. All the Seers look the same to me. They helped us fight the Mursaat… but that wasn't entirely a good thing. They in essence tricked us into releasing the Titans."

Pyre growled at the mention of the last word. "Remind me to skewer you when this is over."

"The only living things that are going to get skewered this day are the Shamans and the Bookah that is leading them." Coran interjected crossly. "Do you have any idea what these 'Seers' are capable of, Devona?"

"They were much more content to let us do the fighting." The warrior answered. "I'm not sure what they can do."

"I can't say I paid much attention to the tales of fright for young Asura, Vekk. Do you remember what the storytellers said these things did?"

"Nothing I'd want to consider even remotely reliable." Vekk replied.

While it was the answer Coran was expecting, it was not the one he liked. "The idea of charging in on an enemy of unknown power and skill does not sit well with me… but if we want to take advantage of the sun, we don't have much more time to waste."

"I say we move, and let whatever that beast can throw at us come." Pyre growled.

"Agreed." Devona declared. "Pyre, gather up the rest of the ranged units. You should be in range at the end of the highlands right there." She pointed off slightly to her right. "Lay down suppressive fire as the melee units make our charge. Hopefully, the barrage will keep them disoriented for us to engage without much trouble."

"The Asuran combat guard will form a secondary assault from just south of our position." Coran added. "Their smaller stature could allow them to be overlooked while us non-bookahs make our charge."

Devona was taken aback slightly, "I figured you'd be grouped with Pyre and the other ranged units."

"Dear, while I'm flattered you think I can throw a spear as far as a bowman can shoot, I fear you'd be tragically disappointed by those results. My best position will be just behind the melee charge." Coran said with a lopsided smile.

"Right. Of course." She replied. It had been a rather illogical assumption to make, and she even knew why she made it. She'd rather have Coran as far away from the melee as possible, to the point that subconsciously she was willing to render him near useless.

"No more chit chat." Pyre insisted. "If we're going attack, let's do it."

"For once, I agree with the Charr." Gwen added. "Let's move while we still have the sun at our backs."

"Right then. Kreweman Norrit, take your squad down the descent right there." Coran ordered, pointing back towards the direction the entire unit had made their climb from. "Keep low, and signal me when you're all situated just before the flatland. Wait until we make our charge from this position, then move in quickly."

Pyre then gestured to the bowmen and the Asuran "gunners" as they called themselves. "Alright, ya sad lot, you're all with me. Keep your head down and your eyes ahead and stay tight behind me. Anybody lagging isn't going to have to worry about the Shamans or that Seer."

Devona gave Aiden a passive salute in parting as he took ranks with the rest of the ranged team, then turned her eyes back towards the Shaman camp, which was already hard at work despite the early hour. Whatever they were doing, the Seer must have deemed it of the utmost importance to be completed as quickly as possible.

"Headmaster, we are in position." Norrit's voice whispered. Astonished that he must be nearby, Devona whirled about to demand what he was still doing there when she saw Coran bring an odd device with some long, thin black straw-like object on the end to his lips.

"Affirmative, Kreweman. Stand by." He whispered back into what Devona now identified as some form of communication machine. She wished she had possessed something like that during her earlier adventures; would have made goings much simpler.

"We are in position and ready to begin the barrage." Another Asuran piped in through the object.

"Very good, Kreweman. Inform Chief Fierceshot he can commence the attack at his leisure."

Apparently, his leisure had been about three seconds before the word had gotten through, because no sooner had Coran given his reply that a flock of arrows whistled in flight through the morning air, soon joined by a series of small explosive bursts that Devona assumed was the odd weapons the Asuran gunners were using.

But she quickly recovered, shouting "Alright, move! Now!" as she jumped over the outcropping and down the handful of feet to the flatland, knowing without looking back that the rest had taken her cue. She tightened her grip on her hammer, her eyes picking out her first target… a Charr who was slightly slower to react to the surprise attack than his kin, just turning about to assess the charging force as she rapidly closed the distance to within feet.

By the time the shaman had fully processed what was happening, it was too late. Devona's hammer met the left side of its head with a satisfying thud then crunch as its cheekbone shattered, sending bone fragments into its brain a mere blink before the heavy metal hammerhead followed and finished the job.

"Oh yes, what a wonderful mess indeed…"


	21. Chapter 21

_Author's Note: Finally, we'll start to get to the heart of the story. A word of warning, it starts to get pretty dark from this point on._

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Many warriors say that once the smell of blood reaches their nose, and the sound of clashing steel reaches their ears, that the battle becomes a haze to them; they can't exactly recall what happened, what they did, or how they got all those wounds that finally started to hurt once the conflict had ended.

For Devona, it was exactly the opposite. Battle sharpened her senses, combat made her perception keener, fighting made her analytical mind faster. She could tell you at any given moment in any battle where every person in her group was, what they were doing, and how effective they were at doing it.

She knew that Coran was seven yards behind her, his spear flashing with its lightning fury roughly every five seconds, striking with its telltale electrical sparks and lethal force, the crackling lance of energy often passing mere inches from her ears or shoulders. She also heard his voice chanting the paragon litanies that enhanced the capabilities of all around him, either by inspiring their spirits, or magically infusing their own prowess.

The warrior had never had much chance to fight with a paragon, the exception being General Morghan… but he had been more of a traditional fighter, rather than the support personnel that Coran seemed more inclined to assume, so she had not heard the professions battle chants all that often, and allowed herself the opportunity to spare half her attention to capture the words of one litany as it carried with astonishing clarity to her ears despite the din of battle.

_Take heart my friends, if ill or fair,  
Strike now comrades, bring blow to bear!  
Fret not their shields or armor tough,  
Your arms shall all pierce deep enough!_

As if prophetic, Devona's next strike finally broke the defenses of the Blademaster that had been stymieing her attacks and had given the hammer wielder occasional pause with his counterattacks. The hammer hit with such force that it splintered the Charr fighter's shield, and she heard the satisfying crack of his forearm breaking from the impact. Her next blow served to be the killing one, as the Charr's sword proved unsuited to parry the much heavier weapon, striking the beast's chest, and killing him with its concussive force near instantly.

To her right, the ranged units had pushed forward, now focusing on specific targets, usually casters and healers that had grouped together in formation. The gunners, as Coran called them, drew her attention simply due to their newness in her mind. The long metal sticks they used were indeed the source of the popping explosions she had heard, but whatever magic they used was invisible to her eye; a flash, pop, and a dead Charr collapsing as if slapped by an unseen hand.

At that point, the Charr had assembled, organized, and began providing a more staunch defense, clearly forming ranks, and momentarily pushing Devona and the central charge back. At that point, the secondary charge from the Asuran krewe to her left made their presence felt.

They advanced directly into the breadth of the first and second lines of Charr, in a tight box formation, with their gleaming silver domed shields above their heads, deflecting the blows of the Charr that tried to stop them. Occasionally, one Charr fighter would fall, and the Asuran formation would simply walk right over him, leaving a horribly slashed corpse in its wake.

Once the little warriors had drawn a sizable amount of attention from the rear guard and front lines of the Charr, it stopped its advance, and then Norrit's voice screeched, "Flurry offensive phalanx stratagem, initiate!"

It was like adding flesh ripping fish into a stream filled with crossing dolyaks. The surrounding Charr crumpled and were shredded by the Asuran's weapons as the box morped into a circle of whirling steel, wielding glaive like weapons with broad sharp cutting edges and long handles that they propped under their arms as they swung for balance and stability.

Devona found herself awestruck by the coordination and strategy and tactics the small beings used. They were using their smaller stature to their _advantage_, the considerably larger Charr unable to gain an effective angle of attack without contorting themselves in ways that reduced their brute strength to near nothing, while the Asura themselves chopped at knees and ankles, forcing their adversaries down then with cold precision slicing out throats or slashing mortal wounds across abdomens as the Charr lost balance.

The twelve tiny machines of death began rotating through the Charr ranks, maintaining close disciplined positions relative to one another, their defense as fluid and precise as their offense, ravaging their opponents with what Devona could only describe as practiced ease. It was a side of the intellectual and unassuming race that she had never imagined they could have.

And through it all, the ranged and primary melee teams took to clearing the peripheries, pressing their advantage towards the casters and healers, the rapidly diminishing front line and occupied rear guard unable to assist. The Prophets and Menders were first to fall, and as those collapsed, the Charr forces began to diminish at an even more furious rate.

The Flameshields came under intense duress as Devona saw the leader of this band become exposed to the chaos. It appeared this Seer didn't exactly have the foresight implied by its name, because she sensed it was surprised, steadily retreating from the field of battle and stirring whatever reinforcements it could towards the front lines.

So, she took the initiative, knocking one Charr sword bearer of his feet with an uppercut swing of her hammer, and sprinted towards the shimmering onyx monstrosity.

Yet, it recovered fast enough to turn square to Devona, and for a brief second, her eyes met the deep, inky blackness within the eye sockets of the Seer…

… And that was all it needed.

Instantly, Devona froze… her body went rigid, every muscle wrenching taut with painful tension. She found it near miraculous that she even remained upright. Her hammer dropped from her lifeless hands, her own body refusing to obey her mind's commands.

The sounds of battle vanished from her ears, replaced by a hideous sinister voice that she new from experience was the shrill, near condescending intonation of the Seer in front of her.

"Submit to my will, and your death will at least be delayed."

Devona wanted to refuse vehemently, but found not even her lips were her own. Not that it mattered, since the Seer clearly sensed her decline.

"It matters not. You and your allies have already lost."

The world before her vanished, replaced with an artificial scene that reminded her of Tyria's depths, but with the feeling that wherever she was, it was even older. Before her, stood a massive, dull gold sculpture of a gigantic throne that had to stand at least two hundred feet in height, filled with a misshapen monstrosity that Devona couldn't clearly see; as not even her eyes would move by her will. A foreboding sense of terror slid like ooze from the top of her head slowly to her toes. It wasn't from the Seer... this sensation felt different; similar... but far more intense, far more pervasive, consuming with its power rather than subtle.

Her vision slowly became filled one by one with the faces of her friends and comrades in arms, all ritualistically slain, with their throats scoured, eyes gouged out, and gaping empty holes where it looked like the chests had been ripped clean with bestial wrath, loose remnants of ribs barely held in place by torn muscle and flesh outlining the now empty cavities. All of those she had just fought with… the Asurans, many of which she couldn't name… Norrit… Vekk… Pyre… the other members of the Fierce clan… Grazz… Yue… Cynn… Mhenlo… Aiden… Gwen… saving the prince for last.

She begged her eyes to shut as Coran's corpse filled her vision, but again, her own body betrayed her, showing the mutilated man to her horror.

The Seer appeared from thin air just behind the prince, its body barely visible in the darkness of the scenery around her. "We gouged out their eyes so that they could see their bodies defiled." It said with casual ease, as if it were merely issuing a statement of the current weather.

_No…_ Devona protested to herself. _This isn't real… it's only an illusion…_

"The world you believe in is the illusion. An illusion I and my grand master will soon dispel." The Seer corrected. It seemed to phase through Coran's body, stopping inches from Devona. A long, prehensile tongue as black as the rest of its form snaked out of its mouth, and slowly licked the warrior's throat and chin. Despite her revulsion, she had no more command of herself as she had when this entire vision started, unable to even so much as grimace in disgust.

"It is of little effort to control the minds and bodies of livestock, human." The Seer crowed. "Now… it's your turn to join your allies…"


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Devona felt herself yanked from the nightmare world around her, and back to the reality of which she was considerably more familiar. The Seer in front of her reared back and howled, at its side, an assassin in Vanguard armor had driven her daggers deep into the floating monster's side, torrents of thick black ichor spurting from the wounds, momentarily forcing Yue back with a hiss as the acidic "blood" ate through her armor and clothing.

The Seer then became aware of its gross miscalculation. In focusing its efforts on Devona, it neglected its control on the Charr Shamans and their forces. And once the pressure to join and continue the fight was lost, they did what most beings did when suddenly faced with a fight or flight situation such as this one.

They ran.

And this allowed for further support to come to Devona's aid. A hail of meteorites crashed from the sky; the combined efforts of Cynn and Vekk, searing the Seer's flesh with its heat, and pounding the floating body with concussive shockwaves as the heaven borne chunks of rock struck the earth.

But even as Devona felt the Seer's gripping paralysis leave her, she couldn't stir the energy to move, or do anything more than collapse to her knees. Fortunately, a pair of arms caught her before she could completely fall over. She was only barely aware of the embrace, or of the calming, worried voice attempting to reach her ears.

The Seer writhed as more of her allies joined the assault, and in short order, the monster collapsed lifeless, one of its grotesque four arms reaching out in Devona's direction, and it uttered one last sinister threat.

"You merely delay the inevitable, livestock. Soon, my master shall rise and feast upon you as was intended from before the rise of your oldest kingdoms… human… Charr… Asura… Norn… all that live, all that die… are only destined to be food…"

Finally, with the Seer's death, did Devona find she could focus on something else. She was turned to face Coran, who had not surprisingly been the one to catch her as she fell… but even though he was staring her in the face, alive and well (save for a handful of scratches that were to be expected from combat), the image of his mutilated body transposed itself upon her eyes… whether it was a circumstance of her own treasonous mind or lingering effects of the Seer's psychological attack wasn't entirely clear.

"Devona, dearest… please… say something." Coran pleaded, the worry in his voice thick.

She blinked rapidly, trying to force the waking nightmare from her mind, and succeeding to the point where she could actually see the prince's face as it was. Her mouth opened, but her throat and cheeks felt sickeningly dry… unable to even force words.

Tentatively, the warrior's hand crept up to Coran's chin, and once satisfied that she felt living flesh under her fingers, broke down. Trembling violently, Devona crumpled into the paragon's embrace, her sobs shaking the prince's body and her crying shaking his soul.

Gwen herself was astonished, only able to imagine what only Devona saw to reduce the seemingly invincible warrior to tears.

"I… couldn't do anything…" Devona finally croaked. "I couldn't move… couldn't talk… and that thing… what it did to me and showed me…"

Coran didn't reply with words, only tightened his embrace and kissed her forehead, smacking his lips silently when he realized how profusely Devona was sweating. Then, with a voice barely above a whisper, began issuing orders. "Norrit, secure the perimeter."

Pyre offered, "My clan will assist with that." Even the unflappable Charr looked rattled. He knew Devona as well as a Charr could understand a human. He knew her unbreakable courage and iron determination. She was no damsel in distress. She was not your run of the mill, weak-minded female. Whatever shattered her composure to that degree was not something he ever wanted to encounter. No, whatever it was, he wanted to be as far away from this hole as possible.

"Good idea." Coran handed his communications box to the Charr chief. "You all know what the Charr Shaman and their forces look like now. If you see any, kill on sight. If you locate another Seer, inform all units, and then eliminate it will all predjudice."

He then turned his head towards the excavation site, and continued, "Vekk, once the perimeter is secure, call in research and scanning krewes to examine this dig. I want to know all we can about what this Seer was trying to find."

Vekk nodded, unsure of what he could say. The stories of the bookahs said that the monsters could make you face your greatest fears, steal the very hope from your soul, and leave you begging for death. Maybe it wasn't entirely accurate, but it was close enough for the Asura's tastes. He felt rather guilty that he _didn't_ mention such before, deeming it "unreliable information." He grabbed his own communications unit and started walking away relaying the Headmaster's order.

Finally, Coran addressed Devona's guildmates. "Once everything else is secure, we will return to Atal Ra." To the warrior herself, who was still shuddering even though her eyes had gone dry, he said, "As for you, dear one, just rest for now. You're safe and among friends. We'll get you somewhere comfortable as soon as we can."

But how could honestly he promise that… when once again, he failed her when it truly mattered?


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

"I'm fine!" Devona protested yet again. She could at least walk, for Grenth's sake.

It was Cynn, surprisingly enough, who had been the most concerned on their return to the Atal Ra cavern. "Devona, no one has _ever_ seen you like that… _ever_. Pardon us for being slightly worried."

The only thing more annoying than how she broke down like a terrified child was how people kept bringing it up. "I wasn't prepared for what the Seer could do. It took advantage of a momentary weakness. Others of its kind won't get the same opportunity. It's over."

They passed the arches that signified the academy grounds proper, and Coran turned to the procession. "Vekk, could you escort Devona to one of the guest chambers? Despite what she says, she could use some rest. For the rest of you, I would like you to report to King Adelbern. He probably should know of the skirmish and that one of his captains will be recuperating here for a short time."

Aidan looked at Devona, silently asking for permission, and upon receiving the warrior's nod, gestured for the rest of the team back towards the exit.

For a moment, the warrior's voice wavered. "What… where are you going?"

The prince turned about, and wrung his hands. "I have some work to attend to, and I suspect the Krewes will soon be reporting in with whatever they have discovered up to this point."

"Are you sure I can't be of help?" She stepped forward, and slowly reached out to Coran.

He sensed her approach, and subtly retreated from her touch. "It's mostly administrative duties, I fear. I mean no offense, but I don't think you are exactly trained in those tasks. You do need some time to recover… my dear. No one rebounds from what must have been such a truly crippling psychological assault in such a short time."

The warrior looked positively forlorn as Coran moved with all haste towards the central complex of Atal Ra. Even as rattled as she still was, she could tell the prince wasn't telling the whole truth… why was he running away from her?

"I suspect it's because you smell." Vekk said near callously, correctly guessing Devona's internal question. "Horribly, in fact."

Devona initially rejected the idea as preposterous.

"He's been living among us Asura for near one of your decades." The tiny elementalist explained. "He's grown accustomed to our hygiene. To be honest, I'm amazed he could bear being around all of you for as long as he has."

"You… really think that's all it is?"

Vekk shrugged, "That would be my guess."

"But… I washed two days ago." Devona protested, then seeing Vekk's jaw dropped, incredulous expression, the warrior sheepishly cringed and added, "Wrong answer, I suppose?"

The Asura shook his head in dismay. How could a species actually survive with such horrific personal grooming? "Come with me… we'll get you cleaned up…"

* * * * *

This wasn't clean… this was outright sterile.

There was literally no smell in the air, and the polished tile floors and walls shimmered from the tubes of artificial lighting running across the bland, barely textured cream colored ceiling.

There were only two things of note in the moderately sized space; a console in the far left corner, where a female Asura was standing, looking rather bored, and a smaller steel frame enclosure with deeply translucent windows.

"What… is this place?" Devona asked, slightly unnerved by her distressingly unnatural surroundings.

"This is the Sonic Honed Oscillating Waves Engendering Rife Sterility, known in short as the S.H.O.W.E.R.S." Vekk stated, as if annoyed that he had to describe the surroundings. "Yunda here will program the sonic emitters to project the proper frequency to... shake the stink off you at the molecular level."

The warrior tried wrapping her mind around the procedure, and failed. "You don't use water to clean?"

"Do you know the parasites, impurities, and/or pathogens that live and thrive in water?" Yunda berated from her position. "Using water can leave you filthier and in worse health than not using it at all."

"I shall leave you to Yunda's care." Vekk said quickly. "I'll be waiting outside when you're freshened up."

"Alright, bookah… strip down and get in the chamber." Yunda said dryly.

Immediately, Devona's world shifted… she remembered being paralyzed in the darkness. The Asura's black eyes morphed into the impossibly blacker eyes of her Seer torturer, taunting her as her hands moved without her accord, pulling the laces of her hauberk free and dropping the armoring to the floor, joining the rest of her plate and mail.

"Yes, a delicious specimen… you will be a wonderous meal." The Seer crooned, two of its hideous hands rubbing her flanks. "Firm, well maintained meat… I do so love it when the livestock prepares itself for consumption…"

"Woman, let me assure you that there is nothing about you I would find attractive. Now get undressed and get in the sonic chamber. You're not the only one that's going to want to use the S.H.O.W.E.R.S."

Devona's eyes bulged as once again reality won over her treasonous mind. Yunda's eyes were narrowed crossly, her left arm pointing towards the enclosure. She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear out the memory, then said, "Yes, of course. I apologize."

She hastily undressed, and fighting back nervousness entered the open end of the steel frame. The warrior yelped when the open end abruptly slapped shut with a hiss of air, and snarled at herself when she heard Yunda laughing.

"That always gets first timers!" The Asura chortled, and with the sound of a few beeps, the S.H.O.W.E.R.S. came to life.

Devona could only describe the feeling that buffeted her as "weird." There was a deep, low trilling hum that seemed to come from everywhere at once in unison with what felt like a million hands shaking her gently.

"Raise your arms every ten seconds or so to make sure every part of your body receives cleaning." Yunda ordered.

As Devona complied, she found the shaking was starting to make her eyes water furiously, and so she instinctively closed them.

And once that happened; the nightmares returned…


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Mhenlo had to admit this was a bit of a switch. For all the time he had known the feisty Surmian, this sort of scenario had played a handful of times. Mhenlo would be concerned for whatever outpost or people they were leaving, and Cynn would be dragging him by the arm, assuring them that those left behind would be fine, they would survive, and all would be well the sooner all the tasks set before the heroes were completed.

Yet, this time, the roles were completely reversed.

"Cynn… we should report to King Adelbern as soon as possible. We can't do that when you stop and turn around every three minutes." Mhenlo said patiently, his arm looping under the elementalist's shoulder.

Even that action didn't even stir Cynn's volatile temper, she continued to look back towards the shrinking gates of Atal Ra. "I… just don't know if it's a good idea to leave Devona alone."

"She's not alone." Aidan interjected. "Prince Coran is there, the Asurans are there… I'm sure they can handle any lingering problems our leader may have."

Cynn remained unconvinced. "I… know how it feels to be shattered; to feel helpless and broken; to have no hope that your life will ever get better. Wounds of the soul are a lot like wounds of the body. They can leave gruesome scars."

Her eyes clamped shut forlornly, Devona's plight bringing back the horrid smells and sights of her own trials. Buried underneath the ruins of her home… no escape… trapped in a small space with the dead remains of her mother… watching as each day the woman who gave Cynn life and the only one who had ever loved her unconditionally at that point slowly rotted away. Even now, every so often, Cynn would see the faces of those she now new going through that same necrotic transformation.

"I'm just afraid that they don't understand what Devona is going through, that's all." Cynn said grimly, yet allowed herself to be turned once more to the task assigned to them.

* * * * *

Devona knew this wasn't happening. She even knew it was an illusion at the time it happened. But the memories were still so powerful, still so painful…

"Yes, livestock… let's see how you fare on the inside." The Seer warbled. It blinked, and for a moment, Devona felt sensation in her arms, felt control of her body start to return to her. If she acted quickly enough, perhaps she…

But before the warrior could even complete the thought, the Seer had full control of her once again. "Thought you could get away? Oh no… I just love seeing the last shine of hope disappear from my meat. Now… cut yourself open."

Devona knelt down and picked up her father's Rinblade, a mere spectator in her own body as she grasped the mighty weapon in her right hand, used her left to steady the massive blade, and with one quick slash, opened a clean, deep gash in her abdomen.

Blood started to flow from the wound as the Seer reached out, and to Devona's horror slid its hand right into the opening. Had she control of her stomach, she would have likely vomited; for while she had no control, she felt the pain of the slice in her belly, as well as the Seer's hand probing her innards, squeezing her intestines in various places. It was a horrific experience and sensation that Devona had never even imagined.

"The intestinal tract is normally considered 'unclean' for our kind, not fit for consumption." The Seer smugly said. "But… I find the smaller tract to be an occasional delicacy if prepared correctly."

Disgust, pain, anguish, helplessness, and terror all flooded Devona's mind at once. If she could have, she would have cried. A second hand joined the first, exploring her innards with great curiosity. This was unreal… surely she should have passed out from blood loss by that point. Grenth take her, she should be _dead_ right then… being completely honest with herself, she would have preferred that fate.

"Or perhaps…" Her torturer noted thoughtfully, "You'd be more useful for breeding first… yes… you appear to be of fine stock… you could bear many succulent morsels before you are parceled."

Its hand then slipped into a very uncomfortable spot. "Would you like that? I can assure you only the finest specimens would be allowed to mate with you."

"Miss… are you of sound condition?"

Devona's eyes flashed open as Yunda's voice coupled with the knocking on the stall door broke her remembrances. The warrior was on the verge of hyperventilating, curled up in a ball against the southwest corner of the S.H.O.W.E.R.S. enclosure.

Taking two deep breaths, Devona stood, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said with surprising conviction, "Yes… I'm fine. I was just lost in thought for a moment."

The Asura on the other side didn't sound terribly convinced, but wasn't inclined to force the issue. "Very well then… I just recommend you don't crumple up like that, it prevents a proper, thorough cleaning."

"Yes, of course. Again, my apologies."

Forcing herself not to shiver, Devona resumed her cleaning per Yunda's instructions, this time forcing her eyes to remain open save for blinking, no matter how uncomfortable the buffet of barely audible sound was on her. How long was this damned process going to take?

"Just a few more seconds, Miss. Raise your arms again for a little bit more, and we should be… oh!"

Devona paused, wondering what had caused Yunda to cut off. Her internal question was answered quickly, as the Asuran operator again spoke, "Miss Yue! What are you doing here?"

"I'm scheduled for a cleaning." The dour assassin grumbled. "I recall you insisting on such particulars."

"That's not for seven more minutes."

"Oh come off it. I smell like a wet Charr, and I noticed Vekk prowling about, so he clearly is not using his scheduled time."

Devona started when she realized what was happening, especially as she saw the blurred outline of a vague Yue shape through the clouded window. Yunda's protest became more forceful as a result, "Miss Yue, the S.H.O.W.E.R.S. is currently…"

At that moment, the sliding door to the stall whisked open, and with a yelp, Devona modestly sought to cover herself as the blurred image gave way to a very sharp vision of the Vanguard assassin, wearing nothing but a towel and a sour frown.

"… Occupied." Yunda finished with a resigned groan.

Yue appraised the situation with darkening chocolate eyes, and her lips pursed tightly before she grumbled, "So… mostly armor, huh?"


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Yue smirked.

Then she chuckled.

Then she laughed.

Devona crossed her arms grumpily, and muttered, "Well… it seemed to make sense at the time."

The warrior had just finished explaining to the assassin the sequence of events, which the latter seemed to find unnecessarily amusing.

"You honestly thought that something as trivial as an earthy odor was enough to cause Coran to shy away from you?" Yue asked, almost as if she were chuckling at a small child's irrational conclusions.

"I… didn't know what else it could have been." Devona sniffed, cursing herself for again sounding so weak.

Yue made a sound something like a cross between a sigh and a deep exhale. "If you wanted to know what was going on in the dear Headmaster's head, you should have asked me rather than listen to Vekk."

"I was under the impression you didn't particularly like me much."

"Meh… petty jealousy, easily put aside." The assassin dismissed with a flick of her wrist. "We've been over this. Besides, I'd tell you this anyway just to head off the foul mood he's no doubt going to be in, as he always is when he thinks he's failed at something. You've shown you can drill some sense in his head, perhaps you can be successful again."

"He thinks he failed? How? We were outnumbered three to one and only had three casualties… which were quickly revived."

"Oh, but to Coran, there were four; and that fourth casualty was all his fault in his mind, I'm sure."

"Four?" Devona asked quizzically before she answered her own question; herself. "But… Coran didn't order me to attack the Seer. I did so on my own accord. How is that his responsibility?"

Yue rolled her eyes. "I never said it was rational. He does this whenever something goes wrong or not precisely according to his plan. Lyssa as my witness, he still blames himself for the Searing."

"What… does the Searing have to do with anything?" Devona's mind felt like it was being pulled in three directions, and none of them seemed to go anywhere.

"Grazz learned that his kind had discovered a powerful artifact of unknown origin at the northern reaches of their territory… from there, he discerned that the Shamans were planning to use this artifact's powers against Ascalon." Yue explained. "Grazz, naturally, relayed that information to me, and I to Coran."

The assassin paused momentarily to allow Devona to process the information, as she sensed the warrior was still slightly overwhelmed. "At about this same time, King Adelbern and Prince Rurik were planning an offensive to retake Drascir. Coran approached them with what had been discovered, and advised them to hold off on the Drascir Offensive until the threat could be determined."

Yue then spat bitterly. "He was ignored, to put it shortly. What Grazz risked to reveal this information… the hell and danger I went through to confirm it… the risk Coran took as potentially being labeled a traitor for working with a Charr to present this information… and what does our noble and wonderful king do with it? Laugh, tell Coran that he should not panic at ghost stories, and shouldn't bother himself with such decisions as he really isn't 'leadership material' anyway."

"I don't blame Coran for washing his hands of the whole thing." Yue continued with a shake of her head. "Disgusted, he packed up everything, and decided to take a long, scholarly mission of undetermined length. Days later, the Drascir Offensive moved on as scheduled, was predictably routed, and three days after that, the Searing occurred. Coran is quite certain that the Shamans launched the Searing sooner than planned in retaliation for that misguided attack."

"But…" Devona began, but was interrupted by Pyre's gruff, gravelly voice from behind her.

"He's right." The Charr ranger said idly, his eyes staring off into the distance as he dropped to his rump on the other side of Yue. "The magical barrage you call the Searing had been intended for Ascalon's fall harvest, to destroy you humans' crops and spirit in one blow. Your attack on Drascir forced the Shaman's hand; they felt they had to retaliate, and they decided to advance the timetable on using their new toy. They used that success to completely subvert the power of the tribe chiefs, using the decimation as proof that their gods were behind them."

The warrior processed the information, and the bitter tone Pyre used to describe it. "You didn't approve of the Searing?"

The Fierce clan chief snorted. "Of course I didn't. It was the cowards' way. A true warrior, a true Charr, fights with his enemy in sight, so that they can see the power and the fury they face, and know that death is at hand. Make no mistake human, one day the Charr will reclaim everything you humans took from us. The land over our heads was Charr land first. It will be Charr land again."

"You're not helping, Charr." Yue warned.

"Not trying to help." Pyre retorted. "Just stating the facts for what they are, and if the facts that you present are what they are, then yes, the Headmaster of this place _does_ bear some responsibility for the Searing."

Devona jumped to her feet, "I will _not_ have you slandering…"

"I'm not slandering anyone." The Charr ranger corrected. "In fact, I am complimenting him. The wayward prince learned from his prior failings, and addressed future situations more befitting proper action. That's all any of us can do. Though, I suppose if I'm being accused of slander, I suppose I could demean him for getting depressed over his mate getting her mind scrambled a little bit… GRAH!"

Whatever further the Charr had to say was cut off by an electrical crack and the ranger's grating yelp. Pyre hopped to his feet, whirled about to demand an explanation, then stopped short with a timid, "Oh no."

Ten feet away, stood Gwen, a sadistic grin drawing broadly across her cheeks, the wired prongs of the T.A.S.E.R. reeling back to its rest position at the top of the device. "For seven years, I lived for the amusement of the Charr. Perhaps it's time for the Charr to entertain me?"

She looked down at the device in her hand, her grin never changing, as she turned the dial to the left, hearing the barely audible, high pitched hum increase slightly in volume as the dial clicked five times.

Pyre slowly started backing away from the bloodthirsty visage of the young mesmer. Thankfully, none of his clan were around to see it. "Now… Gwen… you're looking quite lovely today. Let's… not ruin what must be a very good day. Don't do anything… rash now…"

Finally, Gwen's grin disappeared, and she looked back down at the T.A.S.E.R., and dutifully gave the dial another four clicks to the left.

At that point, Pyre fell into full retreat, Gwen hot on his heels with an angry yell, leaving Yue and Devona alone once again.

The assassin stood and patted Devona twice on the shoulder. "Anyway, this is something you're going to have to corner him and talk to him about; because he won't do it willingly. You're… probably the only one who can get through to him."

With that pained admission, Yue turned full about. "He's either in his chambers, his office, or with Aresssh in the Paragon training hall… the latter being most likely depending on how responsible he feels."

Devona nodded, and said in parting, "Thank you."

"Just doing what is best for all of us." The assassin dismissed.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

It turned out that Atal Ra was more than it appeared from the surface. In fact, the academy had several levels beneath the chamber floor, designed for training in various professions and disciplines. Each floor had its own… feel… true to the nature of the profession, almost like Devona was walking into different worlds with each flight of stairs she descended.

On the third sub-level, she heard the enticing sound of clanking steel, and was momentarily stalled watching the drills of the Asuran phalanx that had been so frighteningly effective in the battle against the Seer's forces. Why couldn't her unit be so disciplined and precise? What was their secret? Maybe if she watched long enough…

"Focus!" She reminded herself loudly, then sheepishly dashing down the next set of stairs when the entire phalanx, still in eerie unison, stopped what they were doing and looked at her oddly. She didn't raise her head until she reached the bottom floor, and sighed when she reached the conclusion that she had went too far.

"In my damned thirties…" She grumbled to herself as she took the same polished granite steps upward. "Why can't I act like it once in a while?"

Two upward flights of steps brought her to her intended destination, the Paragon Halls of Atal Ra. She almost missed it going up as she did when going down, because it looked nothing like she expected. Anticipating Elonian architecture and design, instead she found a distressingly bare cream hallway with a plush red carpet beneath her feet, a myriad of uniformly spaced bland wooden doors extending down its great length.

All of the doors were closed, and Devona sighed at the task ahead of her. He could be anywhere; if he was even here at all. Perhaps she should check the other places Yue suggested first…

"So…" A sharp hissing voice carried down the hallway, perking Devona's ears. "Now that you have told me exactly what happened… perhaps now you can get to what is bothering you."

She cautiously approached the doorway, the first one on the left side. And once she got right up to the wooden barrier, Coran's voice, which apparently didn't carry nearly as well as the Forgotten he was talking to, could be heard.

"I know it doesn't make much sense, Aresssh. But I can't help but think there was something more I could have done, something I missed… anything… anything that could have kept that blank, terrified look off her face. That monster ***** her… maybe not physically, but it was a definite forceful violation."

Aresssh made a sound that somewhat resembled a sigh. "Nine years, and still you continue to allow yourself to harbor grief that is not yours to harbor. It is honorable to accept responsibility for failure…"

"… But it is foolhardy to accept failure as your responsibility." Coran interrupted with a tired groan. "That's just as much dolyak droppings now as it was the first one hundred times you've said it. I bear the responsibility because it is mine to bear. I didn't do enough. I could have insisted Vekk explain himself for fully. I _should_ have done so."

"You would have tried to plan an attack based around children's tales? That would have been a feat."

"It would have been _something_. As you've so repeatedly quoted, 'to proceed without knowledge renders you as blind as if you have lost your eyes'."

The Forgotten hissed, "I will not debate this with you while you are in this mood. Letting emotion trump your rationality is not fitting a leader, and certainly not fitting yourself in what should be a moment of triumph. Even with the greatest and impeccable of planning, casualties will happen, even to those you care about."

Coran's exhale was so heavy that Devona could hear it through the door. "I don't merely care for her, Aresssh. I love her."

At that point, Devona staggered back three steps. It wasn't that she was surprised; the feelings Devona and Coran had shared for several years were pretty obvious to the both of them. But to admit those feelings to others; that had been something they both had been very cautious of doing; for Devona's budding military career and to prevent the maelstrom of gossip among the royalty. It felt like a barrier in her mind had been lifted, and she had to think about how to respond.

Once she decided, her actions were deliberate. She rapped four times on the door to get the occupants attention, then pushed it open, and stood in the doorway. "There you are, my dear." She said neutrally, then turned her attention to the one who had to be Aresssh.

To her eyes, he looked like any other of the few Forgotten she had seen in her travels; the only way he was distinguished in her eyes was the well polished white Istani armor and the equally well maintained golden spear strapped to his back. Although when he bowed slightly to her in silent greeting, she noticed what appeared to be a lock of black hair pulled into a tight tail with a silver tie.

"I hope I am not being too forward, Master Aresssh, but may I have some time alone with the Headmaster?" She requested formally, returning the Forgotten's bow with one of her own.

"Of course, my lady." The Forgotten paragon bowed again, and with a thrust of his tail began to slither past her towards the doorway. "Be warned, he's in a mood."

"I'm sure." The warrior replied, undaunted, getting a closer look at the unusual hair on the back of Aresssh's head as he passed. Closer inspection showed that it wasn't actually his hair, but something that was fastened to the headband about his forehead.

As the door closed, curiosity got the better of her. "Was he wearing… hair?"

Coran chortled once, and replied, "That is actually a Margonite scalp, passed down as a trophy over the centuries down his family line. As I understand, he has several… wears a different one daily much like a human would a hat; a peculiar custom among the few remaining old S'sleth clans… one that most don't follow anymore."

Her interest sated, she returned to the topic foremost on her mind. "So… you really _do_ think you're to blame for what happened to me?"

The prince closed his eyes, trying to sort out his thoughts. "On a purely rational level, no, I don't. Contrary to what Aresssh may think, I have learned his lessons, quite well in fact. What I don't think he understood is that… this wasn't like the Searing. It's different when… this time I watched you harmed. I watched as you went still, and started trembling, wanting to collapse but held in place like you were some… puppet on strings."

He turned away from her to hide the emotions that were betraying his features. "If… if I can't even keep you safe… how can I be expected to ensure the safety of the thousands I supposedly am in line to lead?"

Devona dropped both her hands on his shoulders, and turned him about roughly. "Firstly, I am a warrior. I am trained to be in the front lines. Getting hurt is expected. If you think to shield me from that, you are even more of an idealistic fool than I remember."

She couldn't quite hear his muttered curse under his breath. "For someone supposedly so intelligent, I know I lack considerable amounts of wisdom, as Aresssh does not hesitate to remind me on almost a daily basis. I always seem to be absent when I am most needed, aren't I?"

"There wasn't anything more you could have done about the Searing." She said. "King Adelbern was determined to retake Drascir, nothing was going to sway his mind. Had you done something on your own accord, it would have surely been treason."

Before he could interject, she held up her hand, and said forcefully, "And there was nothing you could have done to have protected me from the Seer's wrath sort of somehow controlling me; and had you managed that… I would have never forgiven you. No man, no matter how much power he holds, can ever truly hold responsibility for all that happens in even the smallest fraction of one second."

She then tilted her head to the ceiling, looking out into space. "You are truly frustrating at times, you know that? You worry that you don't do enough, then you don't even do what you can…"

The warrior couldn't keep up the brave face. Again, the images forced upon her mind stirred in her treacherous memory. "Why… why did you run from me? I'm still… I'm still hurting. The things that Seer made me see, I still see them. They won't get out of my head. I need you… you're the one that broke that things spell on me, and… and… then you couldn't get away from me fast enough."

She felt the embrace about her, and a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I… don't need your protection." She continued, her lungs convulsing in a painful sob. "But… I do need to heal. I think you're the only one that can help me. You worry about your failings; well, this is your failing. It's not just what you do before, what you do after is pretty damned important too."

"I'm sorry… I've been foolish… I should have been…"

"Stop!" The warrior chided. "I don't care what you should have done. I care about what you're going to do now."

Seconds later, she felt his hand under her chin, and his lips claim hers. Her eyes closed instinctively at the contact, but this time, for once, the nightmares didn't come…


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

Yue did not want to be where she was.

Even if she hadn't heard Devona's coy giggle just moments before (yes, that damned warrior had _giggled_), she knew _exactly_ what was going on or had just concluded inside the Headmaster's chambers.

Nonetheless, the assassin also knew she couldn't stall the latest guests to the academy any longer than she already had. So closing her eyes, and taking a deep, calming breath (lot of good it did, though), Yue raised her hand and deliberately knocked on the door.

Coran's somewhat strained voice answered, "Do give me one minute, will you?"

Yue uttered a depressed sigh, but didn't respond in any other way. Muted rustling escaped through the door to her ears, and finally it opened a crack, Coran's head sticking through a mere second later.

"Greetings, Yue." He said, his cheeks flushed and breath short. "What can I do for you?"

Through the gap, the assassin could see Devona's outline through the darkness, appearing to clutch a blanket to her chest. Yue forced her treasonous eyes back towards the headmaster, and said, "There is an envoy from Ascalon City waiting for you, headmaster. I believe they are inquiring about Captain Devona's recovery. I've delayed him and his escorts all I could, but they are starting to get restless."

"Oh, yes… I'll address them with all haste." He said, the flush disappearing as his mind quickly shifted into business mode. "I thank you, friend, and I apologize if you were at all put out by my truancy."

Yue shook her head. "You had your mind on other important matters. It was my pleasure and duty to take up the slack." The assassin gave a slight bow, and added, "By your leave, I shall inform the envoy of your coming audience, then set myself to my daily tasks."

"Very well, Yue." Coran answered, and the door swung shut with a gentle click.

"Damn it." The assassin hissed under her breath, hastily beating her retreat towards her self proclaimed tasks… which would likely end with the biggest bowl of this "iced cream" the Asurans had become so fond of. She found it helped her angst moments.

* * * * *

The envoy issued from Ascalon City looked every bit the part of a regal ambassador. Well dressed in court finery, with an escort of ten heavily armored and armed members of King Adelbern's personal guard. He was a rather portly fellow as well, clearly not suffering the same lean years as the common folk of the kingdom, an observation that did not set well with the presiding Headmaster of Atal Ra.

"The king was not satisfied with the sparse report provided by Captain Devona's guild, Prince Coran. He would like to be kept fully informed of any actions involving his officers, _before_ they become action… especially when said officers are apparently among the casualties. The king disapproves of his army begin put into harm's way without his approval…"

Coran grated against the title used to address him, but now was not the time to argue over it. But before he could reply, Devona interrupted. The headmaster was rather amazed at how quickly she had dressed, assuming he would have had a few minutes to entertain the blustering fool in front of him.

"I was presented with information about a potential threat to Ascalon, and made a battlefield decision to move forward with that information, as I am permitted to do. In addition, I was the only enlisted member of the Ascalon Army involved in the maneuvers, so I fail to see how Headmaster Coran utilized his highness's army in any way unbecoming his station."

"Captain Devona." The envoy said with a swift respectful bow. "When the king had heard you were harmed, he had assumed the worst. It will be relieving to hear that you are apparently in good enough health to move about. I assume you will return to your duties promptly?"

Now it was Coran's turn to intervene. "We have not concluded diagnosing the captain fully, and it pains me that she isn't taking her prescribed bed rest." He couldn't manage to keep his face straight, and shot a knowing grin towards his betrothed. "Let me assure you, ambassador that I have as much, if not more, reason to assure the good captain's health as my father does. Assure the king that I will keep him appraised as to Captain Devona's recovery at whatever intervals appeal to him."

"I see. I suspect the king will not be pleased by this…"

"Actually, I suspect he will, considering that for the years before I parted ways with him he spent inordinate waking moments concocting and executing plans to get the captain and me under the same roof."

The envoy was not swayed, and adamantly insisted, "Much has changed since you fled your station, my prince. I would not assume to know the king's mind, especially as he needs every available hand at the ready for the defense of Ascalon, especially as the Charr are growing ever stronger beyond the tragically damaged Northern Wall…"

Coran then looked over the ambassador's shoulder, and swiftly nodded before addressing the envoy again. "I do apologize, dear sir, but it appears I have other, more urgent matters that need my immediate attention. Grazz… what do you have to report?"

At that point, the envoy turned to see the massive Charr male, looking down on him at a distance far too close for the rotund human's taste. "A Charr!" he exclaimed, then turned to Coran accusingly, "You let these… these… animals walk freely on your grounds!"

The Ascalon guard began to draw their weapons only to draw short once they noticed that the assembly hall had seem to abruptly fill with equally well armed Asura in greater numbers, and with weapons quickly at the ready.

"I'll have you know that not all Charr were thralls of the Shaman caste, and even fewer are now. This Charr specifically has been responsible on more occasions than I can count for information that has kept Ascalon safe, be it delivered to what is now the Ebon Vanguard or to myself." Coran warned, his voice taking that cold, emotionless tone that Devona shivered to hear. "Be very careful how you phrase your next words, because no matter what you might think, this is _not_ my father's land nor his kingdom. This academy and its grounds are _my_ authority, and I will not hesitate to ensure that you never see the light of the sun again if I deem you have exceeded your welcome here."

For once, the envoy had no reply, merely flapping his mouth like a fish removed from water as he tried to absorb Grazz's presence and Coran's abruptly icy demeanor.

"You have all I will give you to report to your king, and badgering me for more will only end badly for you. I suggest you take it and return to Ascalon before you test my patience further."

"Very well, my prince." The ambassor finally squeaked with a low bow. He looked like he was about to say more, but mercifully thought the better of it, and turned about, motioning for his escort to follow out the door and towards the exit of the academy building proper.

"Kreweman Norrit…" Coran said, his glare transfixed on the retreating Ascalonians. "Follow them at a distance until they have left the cavern. If they attempt to go anywhere other than the quickest route out, apprehend them." After a short pause, he added, "Use lethal force if necessary."

The chief of the guard did not speak, merely nodded, and his phalanx fell into prompt formation in obedience of the headmaster's order. Once they were out of sight, Coran slumped back into his chair, and tilted his head appreciatively towards Grazz.

"Thank you, my friend. You capably put as amiable of a close to that audience as I could have expected." From there, he then propped his elbows onto the arm rests, and folded his hands in front of his mouth, deep in thought.

"Coran?" Devona asked. She had seen countless battles, but had never expected to see that level of intensity in a supposedly peaceful setting. She was slightly worried about whatever the headmaster was pondering.

"I had heard reports from some of my brother's supporters still within Ascalon City that my father's mental stability was deteriorating." Coran explained, even as his eyes remained focused out in space. "He's growing increasingly paranoid, his brain is losing its ability to process the information he is receiving correctly. He is ever more certain that the Charr are building strength, when in fact, they are more fragmented then ever before, and assuredly incapable of uniting and creating any immediate threat to Ascalon. Meanwhile, he ignores the potential threat that your guild must have tried to inform him of. His version of reality is incongruous with actual events. It's why I intentionally kept him out of the loop during our assault on the shaman efforts north of the wall."

He then finally looked towards Devona. "I hope you aren't upset that any… delays… in your recovery weren't only because I longed for your company, my dear. I want to make sure my father doesn't do something terribly rash in these next few days as I fear he might, and drag you into it by his authority. I also fear that his brain might decay beyond the point of him being fit to rule far sooner than I had hoped."

"Coran, what are you saying?"

"There may come a point where I will have to assume control of Ascalon sooner than I expected; and in doing so, I may have to force my father from his perch. I have yet to hear of a clean succession in such a scenario. Just another potential headache brewing, I fear. I suspect I shall have to pray that headache doesn't come to bear until whatever headache is brewing under the ground north of the Wall is sufficiently dealt with."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

This was becoming far too common, and if Yue didn't stop, she'd soon be as wide as she was tall.

Over the last three days, this confection had become part of her morning ritual; wake up, exercises, first patrol, eat a bowl of iced cream, then wake the "royal couple" from their nightly shenanigans so the rest of the academy could get on with the day… then probably return to another bowl just before officially having breakfast.

She had tried to dodge the addiction this morning, ordering Gwen to rouse Coran and Devona to inform them that the survey crews had reports to make… but merely _thinking_ about the headmaster and his betrothed sent her down into the kitchens, and pulling out an entire vat of the frozen treat despite the kitchen krewe chief's rather rude objections.

"Whatcha eating?" Gwen interrupted, somewhat surprising Yue. That the assassin hadn't processed the young mesmer's approach was troubling… it did Yue no good to be so absorbed that she was abandoning the skills drilled into her since she could walk.

"Care to share?" Gwen continued brightly, either oblivious to or ignoring every cell of Yue's body relaying a "go away" message.

Yue finally bore her eyes on the waif of a girl that thought herself a woman. "I gave you an order to wake the headmaster."

"I'm a lieutenant now too, Yue." Gwen replied, unrepentantly cheerful, a true insult to the brooding depression Yue had quite successfully burrowed herself in. "You can't just order me around."

"I've been a lieutenant longer, mesmer. I still officially outrank you."

"At ease, Yue… it's been taken care of. I passed the coin to Vekk."

Yue blinked, processing the information, working through several scenarios, all of them appealing to the assassin's more macabre sense of humor. For the first time in what felt like forever, amusement crept into the fore of her mind.

Amusement answered half a minute later, when she heard the incredulous voice of Headmaster Coran's bellow echo through the halls of the academy.

"VEKK, GET OUT THIS INSTANT!"

A rare peal of laughter escaped Yue's lungs, and she then nodded to Gwen. "Grab a spoon."

* * * * *

Coran could really get used to this.

His left arm tightened around his companion's waist, slowly stirring her where a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder finished the job. "Good morning, beautiful." He said with a bright smile.

"How you can tell it is morning while roughly a half mile under the surface of the ground is beyond me." Devona muttered sleepily, "It could be the dead of night above our heads for all I know."

"Oh, come on now… we weren't up that late." The headmaster answered, poking his bedmate in her side and causing her to giggle.

With a quick turn, Devona was sprawled on top of the young man, propped on one elbow with the other poking at him. "Oh, no… not this time. We're going to do things my way, understand?"

With a mock salute, Coran answered, "Yes, ma'am."

Her right index finger dancing along his surprisingly well toned pectorals, Devona grinned in a manner that could only be described as predatory and stated, "First… I am going to…"

At that point, there was a clinking sound at the chamber door, then a sound of a lock springing, and finally, the wooden hatchway swung open, casting the artificial lighting from the hall into the darkened room. After panicking and swiftly covering each other in the blankets, their eyes slowly adjusted to determine the source of the intrusion.

"Vekk! That door was locked for a reason!" Coran scolded.

"No reason more important than the urgent news I was given to relay." Vekk responded, calmly unabashed. "So I unlocked it."

The headmaster had no idea how to respond to that, and every time he tried, nothing came out.

"The Survey Krewes have returned, and are ready to submit their findings. I figured it was a report you wished to be appraised of with all haste." The Asuran genius noted almost haughtily, as if _he_ was the one put out by the exchange.

Coran blinked twice then replied, "Yes… you're right. Thank you, Vekk. I shall attend to that as promptly as possible. You are dismissed."

Vekk bowed in parting, turned, took three steps and stopped short before turning back around and appraising the scene in front of him a second time. "Oh… I hadn't realized… goodness me…"

He then dove into an inside pocket of his vest, and emerged with pad and stencil. "I've never really had the opportunity to observe and study human mating rituals. Do continue, I'll just be in the corner taking notes… act as if I'm not here."

The human pair boggled before Coran regained his indignant fury. With a bellow that rung Devona's ears, he commanded with an outstretched arm, "VEKK! GET OUT THIS INSTANT!"

Vekk started, then coldly thrust the pad back into its pocket. "Fine. You don't need to be rude about it. Humans, I tell you…"

* * * * *

"All right…" Coran declared as he stiffly strode to his chair at the head of the assembly hall, and sat down roughly. "I cannot say I'm in the best of moods, so I strongly request that you save whatever long and eloquent report you had prepared likely for the last day to present to me and get right to the point. What did you find?"

The Krewe Chief nervously glanced both ways at the two assistants flanking her, and the one on her left frantically shredded the small leaf of pages she was holding while the one on the right hastily scribbled for a few seconds on his notepad before handing it to the chief.

The chief looked at the jotted page, then handed it back to her assistant before saying as grandly as she could, "We don't know, sir."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

"You… don't _know_?" Coran repeated, for two reasons. First, he had never heard an Asura ever use the phrase, and wanted to make sure he had heard correctly. Second, that was not the sort of answer he wanted from a rather important mission.

"The survey team reached another cavern, this one not on our charts." The Krewe chief said with confidence she did not feel. She actually was of the Headmaster's mind… as most Asura really. Not knowing is the greatest sin of them all to her kind. "Attempts to scan or explore this cavern proved fruitless."

"What measures were taken?"

"Our remote exploration unit was lowered into the cavern, and upon entry we lost all communications with it, both transmitting and receiving. A booster beacon in an attempt to restore the connection also failed. We even attempted an arcane scrying…" The Krewe chief rubbed her hands nervously before finishing, "The attempt… appeared to… destroy his mind. He is completely catatonic, unresponsive, wailing in what we think is some form of language, but certainly nothing in our or the S'sleth records."

Coran bowed his head, issuing a short prayer to his patron goddess to the unfortunate soul. When he focused his attention back on the Krewe Chief, his query was blunt. "Theories?"

"None, Headmaster. I… I am sorry."

There was a long pause as Coran processed his options. The Seer wanted _something_ in that cavern. He had to find out what, but certainly wasn't going to send another survey team, especially since it must have tormented the current Krewe to no end to have to report to him with anything less than an extensive tome of minutia.

This naturally led to one option.

"Has the cavern's general location been extrapolated?" He asked.

Finally, the Krewe chief had a concrete answer to provide. "Yes sir! I mean… up to the event horizon at any rate."

"Find the shortest connection point between this cavern and that one, and prepare Vekk's drill for another go." He said, standing up as he made his point, "I will lead a manual exploration mission myself, on a volunteer's only basis."

"Headmaster!" The Krewe chief exclaimed, "You can't possibly!"

"I can't send anyone else, Chief Amirra." Coran responded, "But I also cannot just stand idle. So I will go myself. Now, if you don't mind, I need to assemble my team."

"You have one already."

Coran's eyes bugged momentarily then turned about to cautiously decline. "Devona, dearest… I don't think that's wise… you've already had a close call with the Seers."

"And it's because of that that I should accompany you." The warrior asserted quietly. "I have an idea of what to expect. Whatever is down there can destroy a person's mind. Perhaps _you_ don't fully understand the peril."

She hugged herself then said, "I… have to go. I… have to find the place that the Seer took me, and I would bet the king's fortune that it's somewhere inside there. Please… I have to know as much as you do."

"You will learn soon enough that your place is to say, 'yes dear', and let the woman in your life have her way." Mhenlo's voice carried from the west hall, his inflection sympathetic. "This is true be you king or pauper."

Coran eyed Devona, who shrugged coyly. "I ran into them just after getting dressed. I told you you had a team already."

Coran took the opportunity of his arrival to delay his response to Devona's request, as the warrior's comrades filtered in single file. "I must say I'm rather surprised to see you here. I had assumed that my… discussion… with my father's envoy would have led to a degree of tension."

"Oh, it did." Cynn assured. "The King was furious, from what I have been told. But he can't order us like he does his common soldiers, and we figured if he was able to ignore us in direct audience, he probably wouldn't notice us leave."

At that point, Aiden interjected. "We weren't completely right. The Ascalon Army has formed a blockade if you will at their end of the tunnel. We were lucky to convince them to let us through."

The Headmaster ran his right hand through his hair, nodding dejectedly. "Yes… of course. Because gods' know I need more than one pressing problem on my ledger. Nonetheless, my father is going to have to keep himself busy for a short while longer." He eyed Devona's guild, and said, "There's no knowing of what is inside that cavern. You believe you're prepared for that?"

"We've seen some pretty harrowing things in our lives." Cynn replied confidently. "I'm not sure what can rattle us at this point."

Vekk added his voice to the plans. "You'll also need someone to process the information we gather… and also retrieve whatever information the remote units have if we find them. I think you'll agree I'm most qualified for the task."

"And I know full well that you can't go anywhere without causing trouble, so I'm obligated to join you as well." Yue declared.

"I'd dare say this is becoming a habit." Coran noted at the return of some familiar faces.

Cynn flipped her right hand, and said, "Well, we're a package deal, I suppose. You get one of us, you get all of us. Right, Devona?" She quickly found herself right in front of Devona, dropping a friendly hand on the warrior's shoulder, and a warm grin.

"I suppose so…" Devona answered warily.

"Are you going to be alright?" Cynn asked in a whisper. "Don't be too proud to fall back if it gets to be too much, okay?"

The elementalist was showing uncharacteristic concern and it unnerved Devona slightly. "I… I will…" The warrior whispered back.

"Good. Now, let's go exploring."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

This time, the overwhelming sound of the drill was considerably abated… not due to any alterations to the machine, but merely a simple observation by one of the party.

"Ladies and Gentlemen… wouldn't it make sense to keep our distance from the drill as it is doing its work?" Coran had queried, in that tone of voice a person takes when he or she already knows the answer to the question being presented.

But perhaps in a way, the overpowering clash of sound might have been a welcome respite to Devona, since now her brain could operate on a level beyond, "Gods, that's loud."

Her pride and station demanded she take the front of the procession leading down into the unknown… but for the first time she could ever remember she wished she could be as planted as far back in the ranks as possible.

"Devona, are you okay?" Cynn quietly asked. "Are you hurt?"

"Hmm?" The warrior replied.

"You've been slowing down. Are you okay?"

"Oh!" Devona yelped, glad the increasing darkness of the freshly drilled tunnel cloaked the embarrassed flush in her cheeks. "I… I'm just getting a little uncertain of my footing."

Cynn was silent, oddly not feeling the compulsion to note that the earth beneath them was remarkably smooth from the drill boring ahead of them. The elementalist knew that Devona was starting to question being here… and she really couldn't blame the warrior either. Her eyes drifted down to her stomach, where she had noticed she was starting to develop a very distinctive bulge that was making her current clothing starting to fit uncomfortably.

"I'll scout ahead then." Aidan added, his voice level so as not to sound condescending. "Just follow my lead."

At that point, Devona released the breath she didn't even realized she was holding. As long as she had some warning as to what was coming, she'd be okay…

… Maybe.

She shook her head violently, as if doing so would physically fling the uncharacteristic fears and uncertainties from the inside of her skull. She needed to focus, if not for herself, for the rest of the party that needed her to be their wall against whatever dangers lied ahead.

Steeled by that resolve, and Coran's hand subtly slipping into hers and giving it a squeeze, she picked up her pace to catch with Aidan who had not wasted time progressing forward. But whatever phantom hand clutched her heart eventually even seemed to seize the ranger's. He abruptly stopped, and raised his hand.

He answered the party's silent question with a question. "Do you hear that?"

Yue blinked, and cut in, "Hear what?"

"Exactly. The drill has stopped."

A half minute later, Vekk intercepted the advancing party, and he wasn't exactly cheerful. "Headmaster, we have a problem."

* * * * *

The drill had come to a stop at its surveyed destination, and the drill had partially receded to allow any behind it to pass through, as it was designed to do.

"Okay, Vekk… I must say I can't really see what is the prob… oh."

Coran's quizzical note fell short as he looked around the corner of the drill cabin, and saw precisely what the problem was.

The front half of the drill wasn't there… like some invisible blade had sliced it clean off right at the point where the tunnel opened into the cavern.

"The moment I saw this phenomenon occur, I immediately initiated an emergency shutdown. I figured you'd want to see it."

"Does it vaporize anything that comes in contact with it?" The headmaster asked even as his mind wracked about possible solutions to work around such a barrier.

Vekk shook his head. "No… just watch… Gump, back it up three lengths."

The drill's treads grumbled to life, and slowly crept backwards, surprising Cynn and requiring she be quickly yanked to safety by Yue and Mhenlo before she was painfully introduced to the machine. Meanwhile, at the front, the upper portion of the drill began to appear into view.

"Well, isn't that a curious phenomenon." Coran stated, "It would appear that wherever this field connects to, it doesn't necessarily connect to the space on the other side."

"That was my theory as well. If the distance linked was great enough, it would also explain why we lost contact with our probes." Vekk agreed; relieved that another had come to the conclusion he had reached.

Yue rolled her eyes at the two. "So, you're saying that for all we know there could be a thousand Seers waiting for us on the other side of wherever in the Mist this leads?"

Devona cringed involuntarily at the thought then scowled upon recovery at the assassin, who was glancing back at her with a triumphant smirk, as if the words had precisely their intended effect.

"I hate you." The warrior whispered with a hiss at the still grinning assassin.

"I know." She mouthed back.

Devona might think later that Yue had planned her words precisely to embolden the warrior, because there was no way after that jab that Devona was going to back down when Coran addressed the party next.

"Contrary to what Lieutenant Yue would suggest, it is doubtful an army lies in wait at our destination, or else they would have attacked by now. However, there is no knowing what does await us. So, I offer you one more opportunity to turn away. I will not think less of you."

Devona responded with action rather than words, resolutely stomping forward past her betrothed, hands gripped her hammer resolutely and disappeared across the invisible boundary with an angry scowl.

"Or… you can…" Coran began, trying to gather his thoughts as the remainder followed Devona's lead, silently moving past and into the unknown, "… just do… Grenth take it all... wait for me!"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Coran processed his current surroundings as he stepped across the threshold into chaos, and his eyes really didn't like what it was trying to see.

Nothing made sense to his brain… columns that seemed to vanish as he looked up, replaced by different columns that didn't align with the first set, only becoming more convoluted when he tried to follow that second set down towards the cavern floor.

The floor itself was a hideous, eye crossing pattern of what appeared to be ancient stone tile… but that seemed to get closer the further away from him they were. The tile at his feet looked microscopic, but the phenomenon didn't change as he took steps forward; those tiles grew in size the further he moved away while the ones ahead of him shrank.

But most worrisome about it all was the fact he appeared to be alone.

He had not been that far behind the rest of the team… so the only conclusion that he could reach was that the linked space was as random and incomprehensible as the rest of his surroundings.

"A most troublesome trait, to be sure." Coran muttered to himself before resorting to his communications device. "Vekk, do you read?" He issued to the only other member of the team with such a unit. "Vekk, can you hear me?"

With no immediate response, and no response after an estimated two minutes, Coran felt it safe to assume none was coming, and determined to locate the rest of the party, and so he stepped forward again…

… only to find himself in an entirely different place.

He found himself standing on a bridge… one of hundreds it seemed… and none of them pointed in the same direction… or along the same vertical plane. Again, his eyes protested at the confounding sight, and when he clenched them shut to sort out his brain, he heard a faint voice.

"We're lost…"

It sounded like Yue, and instantly his eyes flashed open, and he spun about to see if the assassin was anywhere in sight. "Yue?"

There was a sudden, startled yelp, and the assassin declared, "Coran! What is up with this place?"

The headmaster followed the sound of the voice… from above him? Turning his head upward, there was indeed Yue, on a bridge inverted from his position, looking up at him as he was doing the same to her.

"I… I'm not certain anymore…"

Seconds later, Vekk's voice came over Coran's communications device. "Headmaster Coran, do you read me? Please respond… oh!"

Coran quickly snatched up his unit, and replied with a voice bordering on frantic, "Vekk! Vekk! Do not move from your location! Do you confirm? Vekk!"

The short connection had been lost as promptly as it had been acquired, leaving Coran with empty static once more. Cursing under his breath, he then looked up at Yue, only to find her, and the bridge she had been standing on, gone.

"It's like this very space is determined to drive me insane." He grumbled then pressed on, at this point unable to rely on anything more than blind luck to get him through. He did not particularly like that concept… the Asuran mind (of which Coran was far more similar to than even he wished to admit) was trained to eschew chance in regards to success or failure. Their entire course of learning focused on minimizing outside factors such as "luck".

Of course, the Asura also rejected prayer to higher powers, considering them barely better than random chance… a postulate that Coran _didn't_ share. And so, pausing briefly to cast an entreaty to his patron deity, moved across the bridge, wherever that may lead.

And it appeared that his deity had answered his request, for when he felt the world shift around him, it shifted into a somewhat familiar sight, the back of Devona's distinctive armor and figure. With a sigh of relief, he called out to her and warily approached in fear that he would be abruptly yanked elsewhere once he got close.

But apparently, divine aid only went so far, as Devona turned at the sound of Coran's voice, but rather than joy, the warrior's face was frantic and near crazed. The headmaster was fairly certain that she wasn't even processing what was around her, instead acting on maddened instinct, as she swung her hammer with violent intent in his direction. He was nimble enough to duck under the worst of the blow, but not agile enough to dodge it entirely. He felt the hardened metal maul head glance across the top of his skull, the impact enough to send painful stars through his vision before blissful blackness fell over his eyes a blink later.

* * * * *

In time, he was certain that he would choose the throbbing headache over the alternative which would have involved him being very much dead… but at that moment, as consciousness returned to him and that pain cramped his every nerve, he would have almost preferred the latter.

His vision was still blurred at the edges, but it was clear enough to see that Devona's face was hovering just above his, tear stained and sobbing. The warrior was so engulfed in her own despair that she didn't even realize the target of her sorrow was awake until his right hand gently stroked her cheek.

Rather than calming her, the action seemed to have the exact _opposite_ effect, causing Devona to bawl openly, burying her head in his neck while her body shook. "Oh gods… I thought I had killed you… there was so much blood…"

Coran felt at his head, and did find that his hand collected a generous amount of brownish, clotted blood. "Easy, my dear… head wounds always tend to look worse than they really are, you should know this. You didn't particularly get me badly… I'd have probably been fine even without any attention."

"But… I almost killed you… I was…"

"This place is literally maddening. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt me."

"But… what if… what if I had…"

Coran tightened his grip around her waist. "You didn't." He asserted. "I don't hold you at fault. Right now, I need you to focus. We need to find the rest of our party, and locate the source of this madness."

He frowned as he realized that Devona wasn't responding to his entreaty… the environment and her own fears were wreaking havoc on her already wounded mental state. He needed another angle, something to break her downward spiral.

"Hey, dearest. You know I've trusted you since we were children. You've always been the one I turned to… never more than right now…"


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

Devona waited until she could hear the soft sounds of slumber from her mother's room across the hall. She couldn't even gather the excitement of being naughty at this point, having done this same flight from the homestead in the depths of night several times.

Normally, Coran would have left some sort of signal to meet him at their hideout... usually a nondescript courier delivering a seemingly innocuous message to his betrothed that her mother would more than gladly allow her to receive. This time he didn't... but she knew he would be there anyway. He was every year on this night.

After all, it was his birthday.

Devona didn't slink through the mostly empty streets of Rin... she had learned on her first foray that to do so only drew suspicion from the city guard. The best course of action was to pretend that you had every right in the world to be where you were at that point in time. It also kept them from following her around... which was a good thing as Coran and her were running out of hiding places.

This particular place made her slightly nervous, as normally they had some secluded, mostly closed off hideway to duck into… their current meeting point was very much in the open, outside the limits of the city in fact on the boundary of the Green Hills countryside. They would have been clearly seen at the top of the first significant hill looking out towards the Great Northern Wall, visible due to the watch fires along the top of the massive structure.

Of course, Devona had to admit it made the young prince rather easy to find, staring morosely off in the direction of the wall, even though the warrior in training was reasonably certain Coran wasn't so much looking at the wall as through it into space.

Every year at this time, she thought she knew everything there was to know about the significance of this day to the prince she was bonded to, and every year, she was proven wrong. She had learned that contrary to the official story, the queen had died shortly after Coran was born, she hadn't lived long enough to hold her youngest son even once. She learned that Rurik had felt Coran had killed their mother for the longest time, torturing and mistreating the younger son at every possible opportunity until wisdom finally came with adulthood. She learned that the King had blamed himself, insisting that the queen take that fateful trip from Drascir to Rin, where she went into labor. She could only wonder what would be disclosed this time.

Sitting down, and bumping his shoulder with hers jolted him from his stoic vigil. "I hate my birthday."

"I know… it brings up all sorts of bad memories and bitter stories." Devona replied, hooking one arm across his waist comfortably.

"The nobles were asking my father about when I was going to be bonded. My coming of age isn't far off, they say."

That froze the young woman. "Oh. The king… did he…?"

"No, he didn't reveal that I was already bonded." Coran answered, causing Devona to sigh in relief. "My father merely said that he would make that decision when it was best suited for me and the young lady I would eventually marry."

Coran kicked at a stray pebble that had been dislodged from the soil as Devona had sat down. In the darkening night, he watched it tumble to the base of the hillside. "But now that the topic has been breached… the nobles aren't going to let it go. Every other day, some duke or lord is going to conveniently have reason to bring their oldest unattached daughter to the palace, and happen to 'introduce' her to me."

Devona discovered she did not particularly like that prospect at all. "If… if you want… you can tell them about… you know…"

His right hand fell on hers, which she discovered she was wringing nervously. "I don't want you to do that. I understand you're about to be accepted into the officer's corps. Besides, I wouldn't exactly have to pretend I'm not interested."

"You sound so certain."

"I don't know any of those prissy noble girls. From the short encounters I have had with them, I'm not sure I want to, either. I certainly can't trust them… there looking for a quick step up the social ladder… they wouldn't even be interested in an honest friendship if my father wasn't the king. Why would that be appealing to me at all?"

Devona laughed softly. "I sometimes forget that deep down, you aren't all that different from anyone else, prince or not."

"It's easy to forget." Coran snorted disdainfully. "The nobility works really hard to make people think they are very different from the common folk. My father barely manages to work with them, and only because he says it would be even more difficult to gather them all together and lop off their heads… outside of Barradin, he wouldn't trust ten of them as far as he could kick a Dolyak."

"You keep bringing up that 'trust' thing… is that so hard to find among the nobility?"

"Sadly, it is… but that's why I'm glad I'm bonded to you." Coran said, flushing so brightly that it was easily noticed even in the receding light. "I've always been able to trust you, for as long as I can remember. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with every day."

Now it was Devona's turn to blush, something that she really didn't like. Warriors weren't supposed to blush. "I'm… flattered… I mean… I'm glad you feel that way… and I feel that way too, of course! I… mmmph!"

She never even realized Coran had leaned in until she felt his lips gently press against hers. Momentarily startled, she melted as his tongue teased her lips and her eyes closed, surrendering to the moment…

… and when they opened again, Devona found herself many years older, her face buried in the shoulder of that very same man aged an equal amount of years. Around them, the heart of chaos beat, but she couldn't let that overcome her… not now.

Hastily wiping away her tears, she looked up towards Coran, and smiled wanly. "You're right, of course. Are you well enough to stand?"

"I suspect so." The headmaster answered, "As I said, you really didn't strike me that badly."

"When you're unconscious for several minutes, that's badly enough in my estimation." She retorted, nonetheless helping him to his feet and cautiously eyeing him for even the slightest bit of wooziness or instability. Not seeing any, she felt it safe to proceed. "Where should we go?"

"Wherever the winds take us, I fear." Her bondmate answered grimly, taking her hand in a tight grip as if to let go would instantly separate them… not that the fear was necessarily unfounded. "As much as my Asuran colleagues would hate the prospect, we can really only hope to get lucky until we somehow figure out the odd behavior of this space around us."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

Vekk did what every intellectual, well-reasoned, and intuitive person did to an uncooperative piece of delicate technology…

… he smacked it.

He had found the remote scanner… not that it did any good, as it was covered in rust, the internal power supply completely dead. Had he not known the unit was dropped roughly one day ago, he would have thought it had been lying there unattended for years.

Which begged the natural question of what in the name of the Eternal Alchemy was going on, and why… and led him to trying to contact Headmaster Coran, with absolutely no luck. Any communications link was sporadic at best, and he could only hope his signals were getting through to someone… or anyone at this point.

"Headmaster Coran, do you read me? Please respond… oh!"

His entreaty fell short when as if turning an invisible wall, Coran and Devona appeared directly in front of him. He normally hated such uncanny sequences of events, as it made it difficult to deal with the unenlightened who felt the hands of the gods interwove into everything. But… in this case… he certainly wasn't going to be picky.

Coran himself seemed slightly disoriented, which Vekk supposed shouldn't be terribly surprising. The headmaster was looking back and forth between his belt and Vekk, his eyes furrowing increasingly in concentration.

"Coran… are you all right?"

Devona flushed in embarrassment, and explained, "I… might have introduced my hammer to the top of his head…"

"I said I'm fine… that has nothing to do with it." Coran retorted, even as his voice sound as if in a daze. "I think… maybe… I'm starting to get a grasp of this space we are in."

"Your input would be appreciated on this." Vekk noted, pointing towards the corroded remains of the remote scanner.

That only served to conclusively reinforce the hypothesis that had formed in Coran's mind over the last thirty seconds. "I'm not sure exactly how… but it appears to me we are in some form of physical space where the physical laws we are used to do not apply. Time and space are behaving very differently here than what we are accustomed to."

Devona blinked, hopelessly lost in the conversation that soon erupted.

"I think you're right, headmaster." Vekk mused thoughtfully. "It could take some time, relatively speaking, of course… but we should be able to define the pattern of this space… provided we don't create some paradoxical situation where we meet ourselves at some point."

"Hopefully, there is a state of relative time that prevents such a happenstance. I've heard plenty of theoretical results to such a meeting, and I'd rather leave them in the realm of hypothetical."

Vekk nodded, "So… what now?"

Coran sighed, "Hopefully, the rest of the team has the sense we don't have and stay where they are. Nonetheless, that is our first priority, to reassemble our numbers… then locate the source of this chaos."

Devona and Vekk silently exchanged glances, but Coran caught the silent question. "We still have a task to perform here, and we still cannot afford to let those questions go unanswered. The Seer we fought clearly was undaunted by this space, we must be the same."

Devona linked her left arm with Coran's, and reluctantly offered her free hand to the Asura. "We believe staying in direct contact will help prevent us getting separated again, Vekk." She explained when his eyes furrowed quizzically.

This time Vekk and Coran shared a silent conversation, and the Asuran genius complied, feeling quite silly and suddenly very small as his hand wound up above nearly above his head. He felt like a child all over again which, considering his early family life, was not a good thing.

"Out of curiosity…" Devona began shortly after the very universe itself seemed to alter itself around the trio. "What sort of things are supposed to happen by meeting yourself?"

Coran shrugged. "No one can say for sure. The normal, natural flow of time prevents such encounters. Considering accepted Asuran knowledge isn't even certain of the relation of normal time to space, musing of ways to thwart such relation was considered fantastical musing at best, not fit for proper scientific discussion and reserved for late night, semi-drunken chatter after a few pints of ale were passed around."

"That didn't really answer my question, dear one." Devona insisted, having to admit she found the idea of stark drunken Asura stumbling and stammering half coherently even to those who _understood_ their babble to be quite amusing.

"The theories ranged anywhere from non-existant, to tame, to outright catastrophic." Vekk added, deciding it did little harm to humor the warrior. "Some claimed it would do essentially nothing. Others suggested that meeting yourself would cause your spirit to rip in half trying to fill two bodies at once, effectively killing you. Finally, there was the theory that it would weaken the very fabric of the universe itself, much like a small rip in a piece of clothing. The weakened reality would slowly get larger, until the entire universe was torn apart."

"And now you know why neither Vekk or I are keen on testing these theories." Coran said with a roll of his eyes as Devona boggled. "Because if there is one thing I've discovered, its that reality can sometimes be even more bizarre and unpredictable than theory."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

"We don't belong here…"

"We need to leave… now…"

"Where… are we…?"

"How do we get out?"

"We have to get out!"

Cynn rocked forward and back, tightly compressed into a fetal position, as the voices; her voice and her friends, kept floating over the dead, stagnant air around her.

Mhenlo obviously couldn't hear the voices… thus why she was toning him out, barely aware of his hand on her shoulder as he tried to coax her out of her makeshift shell. He couldn't understand… what she had seen… what she had heard… their future… what was going to happen… she got nothing but a glimpse, but that glimpse was enough.

But even as the sight had faded, the voices had not. Through them, Cynn could hear the increasing panic and creeping fear. This was all going to end badly… so badly… she knew it now…

Oh, the irony of her arrogance… how certain she had been that there was nothing in this world that would be too much to handle. Clearly, she didn't know the world as she had thought. Nothing was right in this sickening place. The insanity that seeped from every intake of breath made the Gate of Madness pale in comparison.

"Thank the gods you're here." Mhenlo then said, his voice turned away from her. "Cynn… as far as I can tell, she saw something… now she's completely withdrawn. I can't even get her to speak to me. I managed to get something about voices, but…"

Another hand fell upon her shoulder, and Coran's voice followed, "Lady Cynn, when did you start hearing these voices? It is vitally important that I know precisely what happened and when."

At that point, Cynn heard a thump then Coran grunt in discomfort and retreat. The next voice was Devona's, softly chiding, "Coran dear, she is _terrified_ in case you hadn't noticed. Could you possibly be more thoughtless?"

To be honest, it didn't bother Cynn much at all… it was much preferred to what had been filling her mind and ears. But she found she preferred Devona's calming presence even more. "So… you heard the voices too?"

Cynn blinked, and looked up in astonishment. "You…?"

"You heard us, didn't you? We're lost and frightened… it's our future, isn't it?"

"Wait, you were…" Coran began.

Devona hushed him with a sharp hiss. "Did you think I took a swing at you with a sound mind? I don't know how you _can't_ hear us. We get trapped in here, growing increasingly mad in this hellish chaos."

Coran boggled at this, "Why… didn't you say anything?"

"I thought it was simple madness overtaking me." The warrior replied even as she kept her eyes locked on Cynn. "But, to hear Cynn talk, it's more than just insanity. You even said yourself that time isn't behaving as it should in this place."

Cynn timidly admitted, "I did more than hear… I saw us… only for a moment… that's when I heard the voices…"

Vekk suddenly piped up with perfectly scientific curiosity, "Did you see yourself?"

"Vekk, if you do not be silent this instant, you will be vomiting my greaves for the next five days." Devona snarled in warning, and for the first time she could remember, the Asura did as requested without retort.

"That settles it." Coran said with a deep breath. "Our newest course of action is to find the remainder of our party and withdraw. As much as I dislike leaving without finding out the source of this mystery, I cannot rightfully foray further without a better knowledge and understanding of these environs."

Cynn was grateful that the headmaster was willing to make such a concession, but also knew the promise to be rather hollow. Their intentions mattered little… the grip of this sinister den of insanity willed everything. It would only release them when it wanted to… if it ever did at all. But if the others were willing to put up a brave front of the sake of everyone else, so could she.

It wouldn't matter, but it would feel like it did.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

Mhenlo was a man of sound and rational mind. He had always felt with his reason and the favor of the gods, that all would end well, a philosophy that had been reinforced for the most part countless times over the rough decade of his many adventures. From the deepest depths of the underground to the highest summits of the Shiverpeaks, from the coldest climes of the north to the boiling heat of the Ring of Fire, from Tyria to Cantha to Elona and Tyria again, even into the hellish den of corruption and evil of the Realm of Torment itself… his mind and his faith had never faltered completely, and with those tools, he had always survived and persevered.

This nightmarish space had certainly tested his reason… but even then, he had the unyielding faith in the gods that they would guide him through this most recent trial…

… but even unwavering faith could be shaken…

The young monk with enough experience for three lifetimes knew better than to assume he had seen the worst of this twisted reality he was wandering within. But he hadn't been expecting this…

"Oh, gods… spare us…" Cynn croaked, and Mhenlo could hear as well as fear her fragile composure shatter as her arm hooked around his tightened to the point where he was afraid she would dislocate his shoulder.

They had found Aidan… or… at least half of him. The other half, from his left shoulder down across the groin and the lower part of his right leg, seemed to be fused with the wall in front of the party. His right arm hung lifeless, and his face was firmly locked in rigor mortis, trickles of dried blood in a red-brown trail to the floor matching the stain underneath his head on the floor.

"He's dead, Coran." Vekk said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you for that astute observation, Vekk." Coran grumbled, "I don't suppose you have a plan to remedy that unfortunate state?"

"I'm a technician, not a doctor."

Mhenlo raised a steadying hand, "Allow me, gentlemen. May Dwayna smile upon us this day."

The monk found it difficult to stare into the lifeless face of his comrade, the contortion of shock on the ranger's face. How long had Aidan suffered in this state before what remained of his body had finally yielded to the trauma it found itself in? How much time had he to come to terms with the hopeless situation? Or had it been sudden, the candle of life snuffed before he even realized it was over?

He raised his staff to the heavens, his lips moving with practiced ease through the words of the prayer of Rebirth that would bring their deceased comrade back to life, out of the wall, and with Dwayna's blessing, in one piece.

And when the prayer ended… nothing happened.

Dwayna's touch did not channel through his body; her holy power didn't cascade and restore what had been lost. Instead, Mhenlo was pointing his staff ineffectively at his target, looking rather foolish.

Aghast, he tried again, and again, his prayer went unanswered. Mhenlo dropped to his knees, silently pleading for Dwayna to answer him. He finally felt the presence of the goddess then, but he couldn't seem to focus it, as if Dwayna was keeping her power out of his reach. He could sense her displeasure in him, but as was normal with such channeling, he had little specific. Had he become too confident in his favor of the Goddess? Had he done something wrong?

Balthazar wasn't much of a god to restore life, but with Dwayna's reluctance and seeming animosity… he didn't have much other option. So he again issued the Prayer of Rebirth, calling out to the god of war and fire.

And Balthazar answered, but not in aid. Mhenlo's staff ignited in flame, and he jumped to his feet in shock and howled in pain as he dropped the burning shaft, his palms severely and hideously burned within the short time. There was no question to the god's response, Balthazar was angry, and angry at him specifically.

And if that hadn't been enough of a clue, a phantom growl resounded within his ears, the deep voice of Balthazar itself. Even for a monk such as himself, the gods had never spoken to him directly.

"Your friend has paid the price for his trespass. Leave here now, and consider yourself lucky that it wasn't you."

With that, the god of war left Mhenlo, and the monk collapsed to his knees, drained of his energy and spirit.

"Mhenlo… was that…" Devona asked, her voice shaken. "Was that who I think it was?"

The monk started in astonishment, "You… heard that?"

Coran remained neutral in expression, but Mhenlo found it hard to believe that he was truly unfazed. "I'm fairly certain everyone did. Balthazar was not receptive to your prayers, either, I see."

Vekk shook his head, "And now you see why the Asura would prefer to leave such powers out of our daily lives. They are fickle and cannot be trusted."

"So what do we do?" Cynn asked, her voice trembling, "Are… are we… really going to leave Aidan… here?"

"No, we are not." Mhenlo replied with an assurance he wasn't entirely certain he felt. There was one more option… even though he was not officially of her order of believers… surely she would not deny him…

He took up his burning staff once more, forcing out the pain in his seared hands, and again rose his staff with the head pointing towards the heavens. His voice barely a whisper, he prayed once more.

"Kormir… I understand that I have angered you and your new kin. While I do not know exactly how I and my friends have wronged you, I beg you; do not let my friend, and your old ally, suffer this fate. I have not asked anything in return for our efforts to aid you during the dark times of Elona, but I ask now. Return Aiden to us, give him his life, do not make him pay for whatever wrong I have committed."

And this time, when he issued his staff forward, he felt the familiar flow of power through his body, the conduit that he knew well, but even more to his surprise, he felt none of the animosity from the Goddess of Truth that he had felt from her brethren. It confused him more than relieved him.

"Mhenlo, my friend, you have done nothing wrong." The voice of Kormir eased into his mind. "Nor have any of your allies. But you are in a place of great peril; peril possibly beyond even my comprehension. I will guide you and aid you as much as I can, though my power in this place is greatly limited."

The monk was so awestruck by the apparent dissention among the deities that he never even processed that Aidan was alive, lying prone in front of him until Devona nearly bowled him over to come to the ranger's aid.

"At least one of the gods is still with us." Coran said, his flat countenance cracking under the relieved tension in the air.

"It is not enough." Mhenlo answered grimly. "We don't belong here… this is not a place meant for us, and we must leave as promptly as we are able."

"I am more than welcome for any of the gods to give us the path in which to depart." Coran snorted disdainfully.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Yue's voice sniped bitterly. Whether her abrupt appearance was due to her skills or by chance of the realm around them was anyone's guess… perhaps even to the assassin. "How do we get out?"

Momentary cheer that the party had been fully united once more turned to fear. Yue looked horrible, slashed and gouged in several places, bleeding profusely from her right shoulder, the cut so severe that the arm attached to it swung limply from the socket.

Mhenlo jumped quickly to her aid, channeling Kormir's power to tend to the assassin's wounds.

"We might not belong here, but the beasts I met apparently do." Yue hissed as the pain slowly began to lessen. "Oni... I ran into a pack of them… and they seemed to know exactly where they were going, unlike us. We're not alone in here, ladies and gentlemen."

"At least we stand more of a chance moving together." Aidan finally spoke. "I'd say we pray to the gods that we make it out of here, but judging from what I've been hearing, that would fall on mostly deaf ears."

"Nonetheless, we do ourselves no good dallying here." Devona grimly declared, finding silent agreement when she locked eyes with Coran. "I hope I don't come across as uncaring, Aidan or Yue, when I say we need to be on the move. Keep tending to her as we proceed, Mhenlo. We cannot afford to stand idle any longer."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

_It was thirty-seven days ago that I first saw the heart of the madness, thirty-seven days ago that I first stared upon that very Throne of Pandemonium, thirty-seven days ago that I looked upon the beast of insanity that now threatens to swallow this world whole._

In the days that followed that fateful expedition, there was no slumbering moment where I did not see that gruesome visage; stealing my sanity and my resolve.

The good news was that the expedition didn't stumble onto any more Oni.

The bad news was that it stumbled onto something much worse.

There was something different about where the party eventually ended up, a long, darkness bathed hall. It felt more… solid, as if it wasn't going to abruptly come to an end and leave them in the madness everywhere else within the cavern, if they were even really _in_ the cavern anymore.

Aidan, in his seemingly infinite wisdom and preparation, produced several torches in which to illuminate their surroundings, in which the full extent of their current environs became clearer.

"This is…" Coran began in awe, "Well… no, actually it's not… but it seems pretty close to the old language. Even older, I would wager… this could possibly be… from the time before the rise of the gods…"

What he was referring to were the walls of the extended hallway that formed into an angled ceiling, covered in glyphs, words, and pictorial etchings; carved directly into the deep russet stone slabs that the enclosed space was almost entirely comprised of.

The headmaster peered intently at the carvings, moving slowly down the hall, shaking his head slowly. "This… is antiquated before antiquated was old. I can only make some of it out, and even then…" he pointed to one word on the third panel, "This word here in the Old Tyrian could mean either 'sleep' or 'dead', depending on the context. Without that, it's hard for me to say."

"Wait… those are Mursaat!" Cynn said, pointing to one of the pictures two panels down. "They're fighting the Seers in this picture!"

Coran nodded absently, steadily moving along absorbing all the information he could, until he was at Cynn's location. "Interesting…" he then pushed past the party that was slowly starting to disperse to see what else they could recognize in the hallway while he attempted to decipher more of the fragmented translation he was able to make.

Devona, on the other hand, felt something tug at the back of her mind, towards the farthest end of the hall, still cloaked in blackness. This place felt very familiar… and she was starting to grasp how. This was where the Seer had taken her during her illusionary imprisonment… further down… just a little further…

"Intriguing…" Coran continued, then straightened, and pointed back down the tunnel. "This is a sort of picture history, as far as I can tell. The rise of the gods of Tyria is told here, shortly after the Mursaat start their war with the Seers. From what I can tell, the gods assisted in either killing, or more likely imprisoning, the driving power of the Seers… who apparently had come even before that, descending from the heavens, fighting and either killing, or imprisoning, even _older_ giant creatures."

Vekk pointed to one of the first panels, "These, I would say, resemble the dragon lords of the S'sleth…" He paused when he saw the blank stares of most of the party, "… or the Forgotten, as you call them, but isn't it claimed that the dragons were created by the Gods? I can't say I remembered my history classes that well."

"According to the S'sleth, yes. And there's no explanation for what this is…" Coran added, tapping on the crude depiction that he determined to be the Seer's leader. "It's rather odd… everything else drawn here is in surprising detail, the Mursaat, the Seers, the dragons, even the gods and the rise of the mortal races further down… but in every instance of this being, it's very vague, like whoever carved these wasn't given a particularly clear representation."

Coran was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even register that Devona's voice was peculiarly faint. "They were terrified to remember." The warrior suggested. "The very sight of it scared them senseless."

"That would suggest that the artist or artists had _seen_ this being, which is highly unlikely considering the time frame that the later panels depict. Something tells me this hall wasn't made over a long span of time. Unless the gods themselves didn't want…" His voice trailed off as the gods' response to their presence here began to come into focus…

… and then Devona screamed; a blood-curdling wail that nearly sent everyone into a panic before dashing to the warrior who had completely vanished into the darkness.

Coran was the first to reach her; she had dropped to her knees, her torch falling limply from her hands, extinguished from its spill into the abruptly sandy surface at their feet. He swiftly gathered the whimpering and trembling woman into his arms, one hand gently smoothing her hair and forehead. "Easy, lovely… you're alright… you're safe…"

"No… no… I'm not. None of us are…" the warrior blubbered. The party had seen this once before, at the excavation site that would likely be directly above them.

"Devona darling, what do you mean?"

"This… is where the Seer took me. This… this is what I saw, or thought I did. This is their master…"

With a nod towards Aiden, the ranger lifted his torch as high as he could manage, casting it's dim light towards the far side of the rough stone cave…

What Devona had seen in her mind during the Seer's attack had been merely the ankle and calf of the Seer's… god. One of _five_ such lower legs, all positioned in a semi-circle around its seating of the same dull gold color. The creature seemed to be almost completely comprised of woven vines or tentacles, knotted tightly where its joints resided, except in some rare occasions where long tusks or bone jutted out from the chest cavity. The shoulders were nearly a hundred feet across, bearing arms that extended halfway along the perimeter of the cave, with crooked hooked fingers that looked like they were grasping for some invisible object.

Further up was the monster's head, a tendril laced visage that spread along the ceiling, and combined with the arms, dwarfed and surrounded the party. In the middle of the tendrils was a circular maw filled with fangs and teeth that extended as far as their sight permitted down the caping cavern of its throat. And through that hideous mess, two blood red orbs suddenly glowed, narrow black slits for pupils that turned and focused directly on the mortals within the cave.

Vekk shivered, and said, "We have to leave... now..."

Terror crashed like invisible waves, reducing the expedition into crumpled heaps. No one was immune, huddled together in a clump, like scared animals waiting to be slaughtered by a pack of predators. The normally sound, analytical minds of Vekk and Coran were shattered, not a single rational thought escaped the inexplicable horror. Mhenlo's faith, already shaken, completely collapsed, his lips and mind unable to remember or compose any prayer to any god. Even involuntary functions began to falter… unable to even remember how to breathe properly. The party was literally drowning in fear.

But, the nightmare seemed to lessen ever so slightly, just enough for Coran to look up from his huddled position next to Devona. At the entrance to the hall they had come from, a slight, hooded figure stood, beckoning to him as unspoken words filtered into his barely functioning mind.

"_Follow… if you wish to live…"_

He nervously roused Devona, and between the two of them managed to rouse the party into something passing as sentient action, silently forming a bumbling, hazed line behind the mysterious figure. There was no telling where they were being led, but at that point, they figured it couldn't possibly be worse than where they had just escaped from.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

It all felt like some form of twisted dream after a while, a theory that was helped when he discovered he was lying in his bed, looking up towards the ceiling of his chambers when he opened his eyes.

That faint hope was dashed however, when an Asuran voice to his left piped up, "Headmaster! You're awake! Finally! Let me get Ouda."

Ouda was the adjunct directly under Coran in the pecking order of Atal Ra, and was the Asura who normally handled the day to day operations of the Academy… he became Acting Headmaster when Coran left the premises on that fateful expedition.

He turned his head towards the door to his chambers as it swung open, pushing himself with a fatigued grunt to a seated position as Ouda appeared. He was rather tall as an Asura went, which made him rather easy to identify even to someone not familiar with the peculiarities of their appearance. He kept an order, well-maintained manner, which suited him well for administrative duties.

"It's good to see you back with us, sir." Ouda said flatly. Had Coran not known Ouda particularly well, it might have been hard for him to determine the sincerity of those well-wishes. "I'll be honest when I say I had pretty much lost hope you were going to return at all. Then when your party stumbled out of the unknown cavern… we weren't certain any of you were going to make it."

"How… long were we gone?" He asked, the time warping effects of the Seer's chamber leading him to wonder.

"You were comatose for three days, headmaster." Ouda answered. "As for your time away… that was almost seventeen days to the second."

Coran let himself sag back to the mattress. "Anything new to report from Ascalon?"

"Your father, King Adelbern, is furious… not that I understand that is anything new. Apparently, his recent ire stems from your unapproved use of 'his officer personnel' for whatever 'near-crazed scheme' you were concocting. I was loathe to officially declare any of you dead for precisely that reason."

Coran nodded; typical Asuran protocol dictates that any official's status be changed from "missing" to "presumed dead" after ten days. Had Ouda made that official declaration, there would have been no telling what King Adelbern would have done in his state of rapidly deteriorating sanity.

"When do you suppose you will feel fit to return to duty, sir?" Ouda abruptly asked. The Asura did not particularly like being Headmaster… he performed well enough, but felt too detached from the actual functions of the academy for his tastes.

"Actually, Ouda, as much as this might pain you, I fear I will need you to continue in your role for an indeterminate period of time." Coran said softly. "I have a task set ahead of me that will require my full attention with no concrete timetable."

"I assume you found something troubling on your expedition?"

Coran scoffed, and stared back up towards the ceiling. There was no way he could describe his experience in a way that would do it justice. "Troubling is far too kind a word, Ouda. I'm not sure _any_word would suffice in that regard."

* * * * *

"Yes, headmaster, she awoke shortly after you did. The rest of the expedition is slowly recovering as well." The nurse attendant outside Devona's ward said, her relief readily apparent.

"Thank you." He gently nudged the nurse aside, and swiftly slid into the ward.

Devona immediately turned towards him once she heard the door open. He found himself in rapt admiration of the woman that he was so damned lucky to be bonded to. To face the maddening power of the Seers and their dark god not once, but _twice_, and to appear completely normal as if nothing at all had been amiss... he knew he would not be able to muster that sort of composure.

Kneeling before her bedside, that's when he saw the crack in her armor… a pained, tormented gleam in her eye that belied the horrors she has seen to this point. He quickly pulled her into an embrace, and could only manage two words.

"I'm sorry."

She returned the hug, and could feel the tears dripping onto her shoulder while the Prince released his regret. "I am so sorry I put you through this. I drug you into that place... forced you to see the heart of your nightmares again…"

"Coran… you had to. I had to. Now we know what we face, and that we have to stop it." Devona answered.

"Yes… but please don't feel slighted or insulted if I don't ask you to make a return trip when the time comes."

The warrior laughed wanly, and with a forlorn voice said, "Don't tell anyone, but I wouldn't complain in the slightest. Courage is one thing… this is entirely another."

Any further commiserating was cut off by a knock at the door. The nurse stuck her head inside, and said, "Ummm… headmaster sir… the Charr has urgent news for you."

It was a simple process of elimination to know who the Asura was referring to, since everyone in Atal Ra referred to Grazz by name. Coran pulled away from Devona, glanced at her for permission, and her nod allowed him to say, "Alright, send him in."

Not even a blink of an eye later, Pyre Fierceshot pushed his way through the door. "When I was told you woke up, and you weren't in your chambers, I figured you'd be here. The mouse and I captured a Shaman that got a little too close to the dig site about four days ago. He's stewing in the hold right now, and I figured you'd want to try and pry some information out of him when you feel up to it."


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

It seemed like every molecule of his being was protesting his movement… even after the comatose state he had been in, Coran still felt fatigued, physically and mentally. But the security of likely the very world itself couldn't afford for him to be tired. His brother had once chided, "You'll have plenty of time to sleep when you're dead."

The young headmaster's eyes crossed. Never thought he'd live to see the day where he'd be taking the advice of his brother.

In reality, it was three stairwells, all going down, that led to the small yet brutally efficient holding cells of the academy. On normal days, it was _exceedingly_ rare that a member of the population of Atal Ra so gregariously crossed the line, thus it's small size… yet despite that, the Asura always felt that if you were going to do something, you do it right and to the best effectiveness possible.

Thus, the hold was _not_ a pleasant place. Imposing steel bars with only the minimal space and accommodations. It was designed to dissuade you from doing whatever it was that got you put down there again. It was also receiving much more use than it was designed for over the last thirty odd days.

In this case, it held a stewing, haughty, arrogant Charr. Coran began to muse if there was any other kind of Charr, but forced himself off that stereotype quickly enough. Despite the very sturdy cell it was locked in, it was also under the guard of three of the academy's elite phalanx.

"So… who comes to question me now?" The prisoner snarled, "You waste your time. I will not yield to mice."

"I keep offering to question him myself, but so far the administration of your school won't let me." A voice called from another cell on the opposite side of the hold. Coran jerked around in a start to see Eve lounging in what appeared to be relative comfort on the cot of the open cell, stroking her "pet skull" distractedly. "I do so hate schools."

Coran rubbed his forehead. Eve had declined to join the expedition team, citing that "clambering through old, dusty caves is boring." He wondered if she had some precognition about the perils within, because her refusal was probably the smartest decision any of the human contingent in Atal Ra had made.

If he was honest with himself, he really didn't want to deal with the prisoner at that moment. He had no doubt that he could eventually get the prisoner to crack, but really did not like utilizing the crude and near torturous techniques he'd have to use. Eve, on the other hand, would probably get no measurable amounts of enjoyment out of the exercise. The fatigue in his body, the reluctance of his mind, and the fact that there was someone with neither allowed him to make a decision he would not have made under any other circumstances.

"What would you need?" Coran asked simply, and the guards boggled. They were already unnerved by the necromancer. She had been sitting in that cell, a willing prisoner of sorts, for the last four days since the Charr had been brought in. Singing macabre songs to herself, talking to the skull she carried… surely the woman must be mad. Could their headmaster really be considering letting that crazed female human do what she wanted?

"Nothing much, really. Just about twenty minutes alone with the prisoner. He'll be willing to wash your nether regions with his tongue by the time I am done with him." Eve stretched herself out in a manner that might have seemed seductive in the right environment, but in the current time and place instead gave off vibes of intense creepiness.

"How much success has the academy investigatiors had?" He asked the guards.

One of them piped up nervously. "Not much at the moment… but we're certain he'll concede any and all information you desire given time."

Coran's eyes narrowed, and he bore a cold stare towards the Charr prisoner. "Time is not a luxury we have an abundance of, Guardsman." He paused, then turned his head slightly towards the now sitting necromancer. "Very well, Eve… I give you permission to interrogate the prisoner. Gentlemen, let's give her some alone time with our guest."

"Headmaster sir… are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Better than any I've had in a handful of weeks, I suspect. It's a step up at any rate. Stand down and pull out. That's an order."

Reluctantly, the guards retreated from the hold, and took up positions in the stairwell outside, closing the thick metal door behind them and the Headmaster. "Inform me immediately if and when she is successful in teaching our guest to be more of a conversationalist." Coran groused, and rubbing his eyes, started what felt like a torturously long trip up the stairwell to the academy proper.

Meanwhile, Eve was preparing herself to have some fun in this boring place at long last. She laid out her silver needles, long puncturing tools nearly a foot long yet very thin for their length, out with great care out on the cot before gathering them in one hand and slowly approaching the chained Charr shaman with a grin that promised no pleasantries.

"Heh, they think a little mouse is going to make me talk now?" The prisoner bragged with a sneer.

"A mouse?" Eve asked, as if amused. With a powerful tug that did not seem like it should be possible from the necromancer's slender frame, the chains binding the Charr pulled taut, spreading her prisoner in a spread position across the far wall of the cell. "Squeak, squeak." She then chirped brightly, drawing three needles from her hand and spacing them between her fingers. Then, with a shockingly pleasant, melodic voice, Eve began to sing.

"I'm just a little mouse; squeak, squeak, squeak." With each of the final sounds, she crisply drove two of the needles into each wrist and one just above the vocal chords, pinching nerves in the neck and killing all feeling below that point.

"What… what did you do?" The Charr demanded, but Eve ignored him, continuing her sweetly toned tune.

"I scurry through the house; squeak, squeak, squeak." Another three needles were drawn, and formed a triangle of sorts beneath each shoulder blade and at the lower sternum.

"I scamper 'cross the floor; squeak, squeak, squeak." Three more needless, piercing the tender flesh of the underarms and the upper sternum.

"I dash under the door; squeak, squeak, squeak." This time, the elbows and the liver took Eve's next punctures.

"I'm just a little mouse…"

A needle pushed through the gap in the Charr's ribs, Eve stopping as she felt it graze ever so barely against the prisoner's beating heart.

"Squeak…"

This one found its way into the abdomen just above the groin.

"Squeak…"

She then drove one final needle into the Charr's temple, the stinging pain dying quickly, leaving her victim extremely confused. Was this supposed to be painful?

"Squeak!"

The last word lost all of the smooth, intoned melody of its fellow song… instead it was a sneering hiss that accompanied the needle in the prisoner's throat being drawn out. With that, all feeling returned to the Charr, each thin metal spike injuring vital pressure points of the Charr anatomy, and sending one uniform, agonizing message all at once to the victim's brain, centering where the needle in his temple rested, like a lightning rod for the nerves of his body… a portion of the brain that processed one of the basest of animal stimuli…

… Pain…


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

It might have been twenty minutes, it might have been twenty hours. No one really seemed to have an objective opinion on just how long Eve's interrogation lasted… probably because the horrific Charr screams filtering through the academy from the hold were unnerving to the point that no one wanted to look at a clock or timepiece.

"Is… she killing the damned thing?" Devona asked nervously.

Coran rubbed the warrior's arm tenderly, finding it quite pleasing how her head fit so nicely in between his chin and shoulder, content with his current situation despite the frightening bellows of torment issuing from below.

"If she were killing it, it would be dead by now… and I'm not sure I'd complain." Coran answered ruefully.

Their tender scene was interrupted by Acting Headmaster Ouda, who Coran had to admit probably was not having much fun in the role for several reasons. "Headmaster, I must insist you do something about this infernal noise. Several professors have already complained that it is making teaching lessons impossible, the cooks claim they can't concentrate on the meals over the racket, and to be perfectly honest… it's scaring the life out of me."

Coran took a deep breath, and nodded, "All right, I'll call Eve's experiment to a halt. Begging your pardon, Ouda." He expected Devona to remain where she was, and was startled when he turned around to assure her that he would return to find the warrior literally one step behind him. He waved off her silent concern, and then opened the door, gesturing for her to exit and following behind.

Not even two steps down the hall, they bumped into Mhenlo and Cynn, both of whom appeared rather ashen, clinging loosely to each other. "Are you going to stop Eve?" Mhenlo asked expectantly.

"That is my plan, yes." Coran admitted, finding it amusing that after all that both heroes had been through and seen that they'd be so rattled by this… of course, they all were still recovering from their ordeal in the Seers' cavern, so they might still be a little prone to being disturbed.

"Good." Cynn added. "To those that know me, they'll understand just how terrible this is when I say that… well… I feel sorry for the prisoner right now."

Down through the stairwell to the hold Coran went, Devona still tagging directly behind. There was a momentary break in the screams, and for that moment, the pair thought that maybe Eve had accomplished her task… only to be disappointed by another barrage of agonized bellows, even louder than before.

Coran then pushed open the door, and began, "Alright Eve that's… by the gods, be he Charr or pin cushion?"

The necromancer had been in the process of pushing another needle into the Charr's flesh, which was at the moment riddled with tens of such implements. Surprise at the headmaster's entrance had temporarily overridden pain in the Charr's mind, as it stopped screaming to look towards the doorway, only to start screaming again when Eve finished the puncture.

"I don't see why he can't be both." Eve hummed sweetly, literally skipping towards the cloth bundle on the cot she had been lying on earlier, which still seemed to be quite full at this moment in time.

"Well, as much as it pains me to terminate your entertainment, I'm afraid to say that if you haven't gotten him to break by now, you probably never will." Coran continued, raising his voice over the howling prisoner, still aghast at what he was seeing. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop."

Eve paused, blinked, then grabbed another needle, carefully calculating where to maximize the effect of her next piercing. "Oh, that… he was ready to tell me everything he knew fifteen minutes ago."

"What?" Coran demanded, aghast. "Why didn't you inform me immediately?"

The necromancer pursed her lips, and frowned. "I was having too much fun."

"Alright, that is enough! Cease this instant!" Coran ordered angrily.

Eve pouted like a child told she had to stop playing and go to bed. "Very well… I suppose you want me to remove the pins then too?"

"Yes!"

Another forlorn expression, and with great reluctance, she then asked, "And I also suppose you want me to end his torture in a prompt manner too?"

Coran clenched his jaw, and tried to tell himself he couldn't see Devona smiling in amusement next to him. "That would be preferable, yes."

"I had held hope you were a fun person, Headmaster Coran." She mumbled bitterly. "I can see I was mistaken. Oh well, most people usually are dreadfully boring." Eve removed the needle from the Charr's temple, and that served to almost instantly dampen the screaming. Coran didn't force the issue, even as he was rather certain Eve was dawdling in the process of removing the implements, as she did indeed clear the prisoner of the pins, and even tended to the occasional bleeding that emerged from the narrow wounds.

"Very well, you may ask what you will of the prisoner. There's no fun left here anyway." Quite indignantly, Eve strode out of the hold, Coran delivering a quick prayer to anyone or anything that crossed the necromancer's path in the near future.

Coran focused his attention back on the prisoner, who he had to admit, was in terrible shape, huddled in the corner of his cell whimpering like a lost puppy, face in hands and buried between his knees.

"While I shall acknowledge that my necromancer friend perhaps went a little too far…" Coran began, his voice gentle yet stern, "I will not hesitate to bring her back in here and let her have all the fun she wants if you do not answer my questions thoroughly and promptly, understand?"

The Charr shaman nodded meekly, slowly lifting its face, radiating fear, torment, and indescribable agony. Coran forced the concern from his mind… now was not the time to take pity on the monster. "When did the Seer approach your caste?"

"At… at the start of the season. It said it would deliver us an older, greater god than all that had come before, beyond the Destroyers, beyond the Titans, even beyond your human gods… the true 'god of the gods' itself." The shaman cringed, afraid he hadn't answered well enough.

"What else did it tell you about this god?"

"Nothing… we didn't need anything more. We saw the chance to reclaim our power and our position, and we took it."

Coran took a step forward, intentionally trying to intimidate the shaken Charr. "And how exactly were you and your kin going to free this god?"

"I do not know… we were not told it was imprisoned. We assumed it would come when we had cleared the way." The prisoner whimpered, coiling into a tighter ball.

"And how were you going to get to its lair?" He asked further. "I've been to that god's domain. There's no way you could have hoped to navigate it without assistance."

"We were not told anything about its lair… or about anything other than its power and that it would show us mercy if we granted it with our worship. We were merely told to clear the path, and that it would come."

"So you know absolutely nothing of value to me." The headmaster snarled, and called to the guard that had stationed himself just inside the door once Eve had left, "Inform Kreweman Norritt that I want this… thing… released into Pyre Fierceshot's custody. I have no doubt that this shaman had committed plenty of crimes against the Charr people… let it be their problem."

He slipped out of the hold thoughtfully, Devona right behind. "Seems like such a waste now… Eve tortured that thing to the brink of insanity and we got nothing from him." She said, hoping to placate the man in front of her.

"On the contrary, my dear… I learned plenty… I just didn't want that shaman to know that. I now know that the situation is quite dire. If this 'god of the gods' is not truly a prisoner in the sense that something else controls its state, we have an extremely limited timetable in which to act. We also need to prepare contingencies to hopefully slow its movement when it decides to act against _us_."

"Like what?"

"That's what I need to find out… and I suppose there no avoiding what I have to do now."

Devona blinked. "What do you need to do?"

"I need to pray."


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Forty**

The howling had stopped at least… not that it helped Cynn's nerves any. Being poked and prodded for the last five minutes by the Academy Medical Krewe had kept her quite nicely on edge… their cold metal implements probing and examining very sensitive places, trying to reach a conclusion Cynn was fairly certain she already knew.

She had felt something… different… the moment she had come out of her coma, and she quickly garnered a fairly good guess what. But Mhenlo had asked her not to be quite so hasty and not to jump to conclusions, hence why she was here right now… being examined like a piece of fresh meat.

"Just hurry up already!" The elementalist hissed. "How many times do you have to do the same thing?"

"Which goes to show your lack of sophistication in all things medical." The 'doctor' said with equal disdain. "We are _not_ repeating the same tests, no matter what you might think. I apologize for being thorough and exact."

Mhenlo came to his wife's aid. "While we appreciate your willingness to exhaust any and all possibilities, surely you have a fairly exact conclusion."

The doctor took a deep breath, and that told Cynn all she needed to know. She started crying… surprising even herself, especially considering how put out she had acted when she had learned in the first place, calling it a 'Grenth forsaken curse' that would only 'slow her down'.

"Lady Cynn, judging from the symptoms you told me about, and the tests we have so far received, there is a 99.98% chance that you have indeed suffered a miscarriage, and that the fetus has been lost."

At that point, the elementalist erupted into a full, body shaking bawl. Even Mhenlo had never seen such a violent burst of grief from his wife. Between her heaving sobs, she managed to ask, "I lost the baby while I was in that horrible cavern, didn't I?"

The doctor shrugged, "That… is hard to say. I won't have a concrete timetable as to the miscarriage until the remainder of the tests are analyzed. But I would be wary to attribute any stress from any outside stimuli as the factor for the miscarriage at this point. Even among the Asura, nearly one in every four pregnancies suffer such loss from perfectly normal natural causes. Among humans, where your pediatric care isn't nearly as advanced, I'd suspect the number is even higher. We'll know more once the final tests are finished."

But Cynn knew… even if the doctor was reluctant. Her grieving erupted once again, her mind no longer fit to communicate. "I'll give you both some time alone…" The Asura said in parting, backing out of the examination room towards the laboratory, the thick metal door sliding shut behind him.

Cynn reached out only to find nothing but air. Leaning around the chair, she noted that Mhenlo was reaching for the door, leading out to the academy halls. "Where… are you going?" She asked meekly, not even possessing the pride to chide herself for sounding so weak.

"I… will be right back. I thought it would be courteous to inform our friends of this tragedy. They may wish to extend their condolences." The monk replied distractedly, slipping out into the hall without further word.

Mhenlo suspected that was rather transparent the moment he left the examination room. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to _anyone_. The only beings he wanted to converse with were not willing to talk to him.

Since waking, the monk had felt different. A suspicion quickly answered when neither Dwayna nor Balthazar responded to his prayers shortly after coming to. Their presence, something he had become so used to for as long as he could remember, was gone. For the first time ever, Mhenlo felt alone in the world.

He supposed Kormir would answer him… but that didn't seem right in his mind. The Goddess of Truth shouldn't have to answer for her kin. Whatever he had done (even though Kormir claimed he had done nothing wrong) should have been made known to him by the deities who apparently felt slighted. He had not been perfect in his service, he had fallen short of their will on several occasions before; often actions that pleased one of his patron deities had upset the other. But he always knew; either when it happened or some point after.

The woman who was his wife was a perfect example of this; Dwayna had disapproved of the fiery elementalist… her inclination had turned him towards Jamei, an old friend from Cantha. Balthazar, on the other hand, was in full approval… until Mhenlo and Cynn decided to have a monastic wedding before Dwayna's Avatar at the Temple of Ages, which the Goddess of Life and Air was flattered by. It seemed at times that it was impossible to please them both at the same time.

But on that same token, he had thought it to be equally possible to _anger_ them both at the same time; but that seemed to be the case at the present, so angered they withdrew themselves completely from him… and watched passively as his unborn child lost even the chance at life.

How did others live like this; without that presence… without that sense that there was some greater plan beyond what their limited minds could grasp… without answers? How could anyone wake up like this, blind to their next step in life?

"_What have I done?_" The monk howled out of the window in front of him across the expanse of the Atal Ra cavern. "_Why have you forsaken me?_"

"Goodness, Mhenlo… could you keep it down?" Coran asked, approaching from the stairwell leading up.

Devona was directly behind the headmaster, and asked in concern, "What has happened? Are the gods still not responding to you?"

The monk shook his head. "Yes. They have completely abandoned me. My prayers achieve nothing more than my bellows to the air." He nervously inhaled, before deciding he might as well break the news now than delay it. "Cynn… lost our baby. The doctors here confirm it. They won't acknowledge it, but we both suspect the child expired sometime during the ordeal in the cavern of the beast."

Devona's hand flew to her mouth. "No…" She slung an arm around Mhenlo's shoulder, and said, "I am so sorry…"

With a rare display of anger, Mhenlo shrugged it away. "You should be. If you and your man here hadn't been so insistent on exploring that den of evil and insanity, _none of this would have happened!_"

The warrior never had a chance to respond to the monk's uncharacteristic display of venom, and Mhenlo probably had little chance to process the aghast shock on his guild leader's face. Coran's right fist checked observation at the door and threw it right out. Mhenlo's head snapped back violently from the impact of the punch, crumpling and dazing him. By the time the monk had pushed himself up to his elbows, he found Coran staring down upon him… Devona holding him back from behind quite effectively.

"Is this the limit of the greatest of Ascalon's monks?" Coran accused with an overpowering strength of voice that reminded both in the hall of who his sire was. "Is this the limit of your faith and inner strength? The moment you have to live one day as any other man, and you come unraveled? Is this your true face and dishonor now that the thin curtain of the gods has been lifted from you?"

"How dare you mope and commiserate about abandonment, while your wife suffers the indignity and loss of a child alone?" He shouted, nearly managing to yank his right arm from Devona's grasp to point towards the medical ward. "For a man so wronged, one would think he would have the presence of mind not to commit such wrongs himself to the one person he should think first above all others!"

The volume dropped away, but the incendiary monologue did not. "You may question my decisions. You may think I made a mistake. I have. I've made hundreds, if not thousands; in the past, in the present, and most certainly in the future. It was my decision to form the expedition. Mine, and mine alone. You would be well served to leave your guild leader out of your slander."

"Even then, we all made the decision to follow Coran." Devona added, feeling Coran was taking undue weight upon his own shoulders. "I chose to follow, you chose to follow, even Cynn chose to follow. That we did not understand the peril was not Coran's fault. It wasn't yours. It wasn't anybody's. Sometimes… no one is at fault."

Decompression finally began to sink into the mind of the wayward monk. He wiped away a trial of blood from the corner of his mouth that was starting to drift toward his chin. Shame became foremost in his mind. He started to speak, but found that no words could either come to his defense or even acknowledge the truth of the accusations.

"I know you want answers." Coran finished. "So do I. I plan to get them by whatever means necessary. Tend to your wife, she needs you most of all right now. If you are able, meet me in the paragon halls in one hour's time. We'll demand our answers together."


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty-One**

Far on the other side of the academy, a lone assassin brooded, lost in her own thoughts.

Had this been the paralyzing fear and loss of sense that Devona had faced in the battle with the Seer? If so, the warrior was made of sterner stuff than she could have ever imagined. Gods take it, was it _possible_ to be inferior in _every_ way to someone else?

It was bad enough that the warrior was prettier than Yue… and stronger… and smarter… oh and she had bigger breasts too… of course Devona would be tougher in mind and body as well. Oh, and let's not forget how the warrior can consume her weight in food at every meal and not gain a single inch of fat on that flawless figure of hers. Yue eats one bowl of iced cream and has to train an extra hour to prevent from swelling up into a bloated ball of flesh.

All things damned, Devona could probably even be a better assassin if she put her mind to it for thirty seconds.

Every member of the expedition seemed to be suffering from some internal trial since emerging from the Seer's cavern. For Yue, the jealousy that she thought she had managed to banish, or at least lock away, had burst from the recesses of her mind. All she could think about since awakening was how unfair it was that Devona had _everything_, and was so damned _perfect_ in every damnable way that mattered.

Damn it.

"Hey… there aren't enough brooding spots in this academy. You're going to have to share."

Yue looked up to see Aidan just inside the balcony, plopping down onto his backside. "I'd say 'go away', but since none of your guild has ever listened to direction, I suspect it would fall on deaf ears." The assassin noted.

"Aw, you like us, don't lie."

"Why are you bothering me?"

Aidan grunted. "I told you, there aren't enough places here to truly brood. It's not my fault you're already here simpering about your forbidden love."

Yue's eyes flared. "That… *****… she told you, didn't she?"

Aidan's expression narrowed. "What are you talking about? Your little crush is patently obvious to anyone with a set of eyes… as is your dislike for the woman that currently occupies the place you desire. Then again, I'm told I'm rather observant."

"So, what are you brooding about then?"

"Funny how getting imbedded into a wall and the gods you dutifully served most of your life willing to leave you there to rot would be a bit disjointing."

Oh right… that. Yue cringed nervously; the ranger did have legitimate reason to brood.

"That, and I rather prefer avoiding the Headmaster and my guild leader whenever I can." He exhaled forlornly, "You're not the only one who occasionally harbors unrequited affection."

His head tilted upward slightly. "I remember the first time I met the girl… she hadn't been much out of her teens, finishing her officer's schooling. A military prodigy, I was told; of fine background and pedigree, a true born leader. She was far too young for me… nearly a decade my junior; but her energy and her life and vitality were near intoxicating."

"Some months later; I was pulling strings to always be around her. I even assisted her in her final testing, scouting for her unit across the Great Northern Wall. It was there I learned she was everything she was made out to be; a brilliant strategic mind, fearless, strong, and inspiring. Without question, she passed her trial with flying colors; before the ink had even dried on her conscription as a Lieutenant, there was talk of the next Warmaster before our very eyes."

"The perfect woman." Yue spat.

"For many eyes, and even mine for a long time… yes." Aiden admitted. "She approached me before her knighting, to thank me for my assistance, and how I made her trials so much easier. The gesture was so flattering, I very nearly made a fool out of myself then and there, blurting out my endearment to the woman… barely a woman at that."

The assassin had turned about, now giving him her full attention. She somehow sensed where this discussion was going. "What stopped you? A lack of nerve?"

Aidan shook his head. "No. There was a cough, and she turned about, yelped excitedly, and dashed across the room into a young man's arms, hugging him and chattering happily about her test, how she passed, how wonderful it was that she was truly following her father's footsteps. I knew the boy of course, even if he didn't know me. The youngest child of Adelbern; and the man this woman lieutenant was betrothed to."

"I should have guessed really." He said with a frown. "I knew that Prince Coran was betrothed; and that the rumor was that it was the daughter of Mordekai, but I never thought to put the pieces together until that moment. The pair denied such an attachment for what it was worth. But I could tell… anyone with a pulse could tell. To this day, they both hold the delusion their relationship was some well kept secret. It wasn't. Not to anyone that knew them."

The ranger laughed with a hint of bitterness. "So engrossed in each other, the young lieutenant was completely oblivious to my affection. I'm sure you are quite well aware of that by now."

"Painfully." Yue acknowledged.

From the vest of his jacket, Aidan pulled a flask, and took a long drag. "Devona always thought this was my personal water bottle, a misconception I didn't care to correct, and in fact encouraged on occasion. I am quite thankful we were never in such dire straights in regards to water that I would be encouraged to share."

He handed the item over to Yue, and gestured for her to take a drink. She did, and nearly spit it out in surprise. "That's…"

"In this case, it's an Asuran spirit that I managed to purchase. I personally prefer the Thunderhead Stout that the dwarves made, but it was not always easy to get, and nigh impossible now that they are gone." Aidan said, his lips upturned darkly. "You have your iced cream; this was my comforter for these last nine years."

He sighed again, and continued, "I purchased that flask, and the first ale it contained the hour after Devona invited me to join her guild… I realized I would need it to remain in her company. Has anyone ever told you why the Heroes of Ascalon initially came to be?"

Yue shook her head. "I had figured it was an assembly of the best Ascalon had to offer, an elite squad to assist in the defense of Ascalon against the Charr."

"That certainly _became_ our purpose… but Devona initially assembled the four of us to, get this, find Prince Coran, who had disappeared and was most certainly alive somewhere; perhaps a Charr prisoner!" His voice turned into a crude approximation of Devona's worried lilt. "How unintentionally callous was that? To invite a man smitten with her to help her find the man she was smitten with in turn."

"But she gave up, didn't she?"

Aiden shook his head. "Her duty quickly pulled her away, and she reluctantly abandoned the search quickly enough… but I don't think she ever really gave up hope."

"But for nine years? Why didn't you… you know…" Yue insisted bitterly.

"Why didn't you?"

Yue sagged to the floor across from Aidan and submitted the answer to both questions. "Because I knew at best I'd just be some surrogate; a pale substitute. He'd never care for me the way he did her."

There was a long, sour silence until Yue finally asked no one in particular. "Why do we put ourselves through this?"

"Because we know that while they may not care for us the way we dream; they do care for us deeply as friends and trusted allies, and rely on us more than they, and possibly even we, will ever truly know." Aidan offered sagely, taking back his flask for another pull. "It is enough, most of the time."

Yue quickly snatched the flask back, and smirked silent his coming protest before taking another drag herself. Now that she knew what it was, it went down far smoother. "What would they do without us, right?"

"Indeed."

At that point, Devona herself appeared in the doorway. "I figured if I looked for every reasonably darkened space, I'd eventually find one of you two."

Yue's eyebrows perked in mock curiosity, and she remarked slyly, "Goodness, you really aren't attached to the Headmaster's hip after all. This is truly astonishing."

Devona frowned, but refused to rise to the bait. "Coran is assembling his 'inner circle' in the Paragon Hall as we speak. He hopes that we will get some answers to our questions soon enough. Obviously, both of you are included."

"We shall be right behind you." Aiden affirmed, taking to his feet, and offering his hand to Yue to help her up, which she declined not entirely politely.

Devona tilted her head, and noted quizzically. "Huh. You never let me drink out of your personal water supply."

Aidan couldn't help but grin. "Well, perhaps you don't understand me as well as you think."

The warrior scoffed. "I don't understand you at all, and don't pretend to. At any rate, come along… let's not keep Coran waiting."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty-Two**

Coran was waiting at the far end of the Paragon Hall, with many of the old gang already in tow by the time Devona, Aidan, and Yue arrived.

"Ah, I see you found them." Coran stated the obvious, dropping a loving hand onto Devona's hip and giving her a swift kiss on the cheek. In response, Yue made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a gag, but waved off concern; embarrassed when she realized it had been quite so audible.

"Cynn, I am sorry for your loss." Aidan said. "I do apologize that I had secluded myself to the point that I had to learn secondhand."

Cynn shrugged. "I guess it happens. The doctor here estimates that the baby was effectively lost a month ago from the final tests he or she, I can't remember which… they all look the same to me… anyway, so my trauma within the Seer's Cavern likely didn't do anything more than possibly accelerating the purging."

"I doubt that's any condolence." The ranger answered. In some ways, Cynn had become the little sister he never had, and sense from Devona's interaction with the elementalist that the warrior had similar sentiments.

"No, not really… but it is what it is." She responded, then cracked a rare, good-intentioned smile. "But I have my friends, and my family. And we still have much greater concerns to deal with."

"Which brings us to where we are now." Coran interrupted, hands on the massive stone doors at the end of the Paragon Hall. "I ask that you behave with the same reverence within the shrine as you would any other house of the gods. It will be a rather tight fit, and perhaps not terribly comfortable."

He shoved open the door with the sound of grinding stone, and into what was indeed a rather cramped space; a shrine intended for two, maybe three people. Pyre didn't even _try_ to enter, instead taking a spot just outside the door and leaning his head in over Gwen.

"I swear to Lyssa, if you drool on me, I'm taking your tongue." The mesmer threatened.

"Enough." Coran reprimanded, and lit the candles that provided illumination in the otherwise darkened space.

"That's a statue of Kormir!" Mhenlo exclaimed when the light provided a clearer view of the shrine as a whole.

"She came to us presumably shortly after her ascension." Coran related as he finished lighting the candles around the statue. "Aresssh near immediately recognized her power and station, and declared that the paragons here would accept her as their patron goddess. This shrine was built shortly after. I suspect if anyone would have the answers we seek, it would be the Goddess of Knowledge."

"Calling on me will be unnecessary, headmaster." The goddess's voice declared. "I am already here."

Coran had began to drop to his knees in meditative prayer, and joined his fellows as they looked up to see that the statue had literally come to life in the blindfolded form they recognized quite well… with alterations that many of them _also_ knew very well.

The blindfold that Kormir had worn to cover her damaged eyes up through her ascension and beyond only covered the top two… four others, gleaming gold, running down to the top of her cheek were unclad, unblinking, very reminiscent of the vile god she replaced.

"Before you ask; this is not the taint of Abaddon." Kormir said. "But I am changing… due to the taint of the same power that desecrated and corrupted my predecessor. Unlike the other gods, Abbadon, and now myself, know the true nature of the nightmare that spawned us. We have knowledge of the… thing… that birthed the gods you know. That knowledge… is a curse… a nightmarish, sanity gnawing curse." At this point, the normally unflappable being choked, "I… I have no doubt, even as staunch as I am… that if nothing is done, I will follow the path of Abaddon… I will succumb to the madness. I will submit to the dark beast that… I guess the closest description I can make is that he is the father of the gods themselves."

"The father of the gods?" Mhenlo gasped. "So the creators have a creator?"

"There is much disinformation to dispel… much inconvenient truths that must be made light before I can continue." Kormir sighed. "I understand the necessity that my new brethren felt…" There was a moment's silence as if Kormir had been interrupted by an invisible beckon, but her focus turned back towards the gathering and her voice returned. "My apologies… my fellows do not wish for me to speak of this." She then smiled. "I told them quite earnestly just where they could stick their concerns. It is time for knowledge to rule the day."

A series of new lights appeared behind the animated statue of Kormir, five in total… the avatars of the other gods had materialized, overlapping each other at some points within the close confines.

"Since our newest sister will be undaunted from her current actions…" The Avatar of Dwayna said warily, "… we have supposed it would be best to be present to fill in any gaps that might occur in her recitation of events."

The Goddess of Air shifted slightly, and Mhenlo could sense her gaze upon him. In a mental voice meant only for him, she offered an apology. _I… extend remorse for my actions within the den of insanity. I was afraid… afraid of what you would find… and how it would reflect upon me. I am ashamed that I did not live up to the very standards I set._

Mhenlo found he couldn't easily accept the apology, but as the presence of the goddess left him, he didn't sense any anger from being rebuffed. Perhaps Dwayna was truly regretful; but it would take time for the monk to fully trust in her like he had in the past… and she seemed to understand that and accept it at least.

"So then… do tell… what is within that cavern? How is it the 'father of the gods'?"

"Contrary to what we have spread over the millennia, we are not the creators of this world." Kormir said almost candidly. "There is actually very little we created. We had our hand in the creation of the Ssleth, and some of the younger dragons, but not much else. Dragonkind predates us… the races of Tyria predate us… even the humans that revere us."

"We… were once human ourselves." Grenth spoke, his disgust at such a notion evident. "As much as we may be loathe to acknowledge that."

This was rather much for most of the assembly to absorb, but the gods seemed unwilling to let them catch up. "Almost three thousand years ago, in the region of the world known as Elona, the old gods as you know them, and many you don't know or only know of in passing, were one tribe of humans, scratching out a living under the shadow of many greater beasts. That changed… with the coming of the Seers, the Mursaat that fought them, and the great god among gods, the void beast…" She paused, as if pondering. "The human tongue is not capable of producing the repulsive sounds that comprise its name, I fear."

"The closest approximation we made was 'Bhu'khahuh'." Melandru related grimly.

"It came from the great expanse of the void, beyond this world." Kormir continued. "There is no way to describe the distance it traveled, or even where it came. That knowledge is even beyond myself. It crashed to Tyria in a ball of fire… its corrupting tendrils weaving into the world itself. Its arrival stirred the ancient giant beasts of the world, a war of evils that nearly destroyed everything… but in the end, the ancient lords of the world lost, and were cast down in either death or a great torpor from which they still haven't awakened."

"We were the tribe closest to where Bhu'khahuh arrived." Lyssa added. "Over the years after the war of the ancient ones, we noticed we were changing."

"We believe it was the proximity to the great void god that changed us." Balthazar then interjected. "Even as it sought to feed on the world, we were also gaining its power. In time, we were no longer human, we had become something more."

"Soon, came the Mursaat, and another great war against the might of Bhu'khahuh." Kormir resumed. "But this one, with our new powers, we were able to contend. "Finding momentary alliance with the Mursaat, we did what the ancient beasts could not… we thwarted the Great Old One, and sent him into the same deep sleep that he punished upon his earlier foes."

"Why not kill this Buh… Buk… Bah-thing, and be done with it?" Devona queried.

"For the same reason we couldn't kill the gods that turned on us." Dwayna answered. "The same reason why Dhuum and Menzies still live, despite in weakened states, to give us trouble. The same reason why we could not be the ones to destroy Abaddon once and for all… why we had to ask some of you present to take on that task."

"We discovered that our fates are tied… our powers are linked in such a way that they cannot be used against one another to such great extremes." Balthezar elaborated, "If I were to kill Menzies, for example… it would kill me in the process."

"We were only spared great harm with the death of Abaddon by Kormir assuming our brother's power before it back lashed against us." Melandru continued.

"You're afraid that if Bhu'khahuh is slain… it will mean the end of all of you." Coran deduced.

"It is the likely scenario, yes." Kormir admitted. "The void god's power cannot possibly be assumed by anything, even one or all of us. Bhu'khahuh's death would unleash all its great and frightening and insane power… even protected in the barrier of the Mists… there is no guarantee any of us would survive."

"That is why we sought to keep you from discovering our 'father's' lair. We were afraid of what his corrupting insanity would do to you… and were afraid of what it meant for us." Dwayna said regretfully.

"But now there is no helping it." Kormir declared. "We sensed Bhu'khahuh is starting to shrug off the sleep that was forced upon him. The alliance between the Mursaat and the gods was broken long ago, and even if it weren't, our power would not be enough to thwart the Great Old One again."

There was reluctance… but the other gods echoed their agreement. "No matter what it may do to us or mean for us… it is our duty to stand aside and ask you to again fight in our stead."

"Wait a minute…" Aidan protested. "It was one thing to ask us to do the near impossible and fight one of your fallen kin. This is entirely another. You expect us to confront, defeat, and destroy a force that you yourself acknowledge you cannot!"

"He will not be at his full might, especially right now while he is still fighting to awaken. Even if he does manage to fully rouse himself, he would not be at his whole all-consuming strength." Kormir assured. "Humans have the knowledge and the power needed to destroy Bhu'khahuh. You merely need to be encouraged to use it."

Coran found himself locking eyes with the Goddess of Truth and Knowledge. "You can't possibly know what you speak of."

"I do, son of Adelbern. I know all the alchemy that governs this universe." Kormir noted.

"It's too dangerous for humans, or any mortal race, to possess." He insisted.

"Then the whole of the world is doomed." Kormir retorted. "There is no other choice, I fear. You know of the hand of the gods… you must use it before all is lost."

"Again, we all apologize for the burden we must place upon you." Dwayna addressed in closing. "We can promise you nothing but the greatest of blessings another fold over within the Hall of Heroes should you succeed."

With that parting, the avatars dispersed into the air, and Kormir's statue resumed its lifeless state and posture.

Devona instantly turned on the one person who seemed to have a better grasp on what had been said than anyone else still present. "Coran… what were you both talking about? What do they mean by 'the hand of the gods'?"

Coran was still staring at Kormir's statue, locked in deep thought. "It was a discovery I made two years ago… a discovery I quickly realized could not be allowed to ever be applied by any mortal agency. I destroyed all records of my findings, and pretended like I was as lost as any of my contemporaries among the Asura."

Vekk's jaw dropped. "No… you can't possibly mean…"

"What?" Devona pressed.

Coran reached into his dress shirt, and emerged with pad and stencil. "I never thought I'd be issuing these calculations in any material capacity ever again." He muttered glumly as he scribbled, and forlornly handed it to his betrothed.

The odd symbols and Tyrian letters might as well have been a foreign language to her, and she quickly handed it over to Vekk, who had started reaching for it insistently the moment the pad touched the warrior's fingers.

Vekk's eyes scanned the surprisingly short equation, breathlessly translating in awe. "The potential energy of any object is equivalent to its full mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light… gods be damned… this is it!"

"Is what?" Cynn asked, annoyed by all the talking recently that didn't seem to really answer anything.

Vekk remained awestruck by what he was reading, and thus his response came out more as a whisper. "This… is the Eternal Alchemy…"


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty-Three**

"Hardly." Coran answered Vekk's breathless pronouncement. "Merely a piece of it, as I can tell."

"The most important part!" His Asuran friend retorted in wonder. "This… this is the link! This is the vital fragment to the great code we've been missing, and no wonder why! We would have never thought the transfer of matter to energy to be that incomprehensibly high!"

"I'm glad you at least understand each other…" Devona mumbled.

Vekk held up his pen. "If these numbers are correct…"

"They are." Coran interjected glumly.

Vekk ignored the interruption, focused entirely on teaching this concept in a way that the simple minded humans and Charr could comprehend. "By these calculations, there is enough energy within this stylus to obliterate everything within a fifty mile radius."

"It's not that simple, of course." Coran explained further. "Energy is often bound in forms we cannot use, at least not with the level of efficiency that would result in such catastrophic destruction. Matter is far too stable to be exploited in such a fashion."

"Then what is the problem?" Cynn asked. "How is that going to help us?"

"Because there exists matter that can be exploited to a minimal extent… and even a rupture of one percent of a mass's energy would be devastating in scope, especially since no one with such knowledge would use a mass as small as that pen."

"Agroium." Vekk noted.

"And that is?" Pyre finally spoke up.

"A metallic ore found deep in the crust of the world." Vekk explained. "It is found at great dilution within the great statue outside the Central Transfer Station, for example. Even at that very low composition anyone with mystic sensitivity can feel the magic radiating from it. The Asura don't even go within miles of any confirmed veins of any purity beyond ten percent. It is extremely unstable… even exposure to the air can cause it to ignite… any significant force… yeah, you're dead, and probably the rest of the survey team behind you."

"And… that is what you'd use?"

"When properly refined in a large enough charge, I cannot imagine a Agroium detonation wouldn't have enough power to destroy anything it was targeted with, even this beast of madness. We would have to act quickly however… there's no telling how resilient it would be if allowed to fully awaken."

"Well then, fine… get some of that stuff, get a team of these genius super rabbits together, and make Bhu-whatever go boom." Pyre said with a shrug.

"Absolutely not!" Coran replied, aghast in terror at the suggestion. "Presuming I actually agree to developing and constructing an Agroium detonation device, there is no way I'm letting any Asura get anywhere within a hundred feet of it."

"Why not?" Mhenlo queried, finding the sudden disdain for Asura odd to be made manifest in a man who had lived and learned and taught among them for roughly a decade.

"Let me explain something about the Asuran thought process." Coran explained, his voice bordering on comical. "Step one; how do I make this boom bigger? Step two; what do I need to make this boom bigger? Then finally, step three; how do I make this boom bigger? I involve an Asuran engineering krewe in this, and what will begin as a weapon designed to destroy a spatial anomaly of a cavern will become a super-weapon that could destroy Tyria seven times over."

Devona found this to be somewhat unfair, "Coran, that's…"

"Rather accurate, really." Vekk nodded, his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "My only quibble is that my kinfolk would stop with seven times over. We'd go for at least ten; it's a nice round number." The pseudo-joke aside, Vekk raised his head to address the headmaster. "At any rate, I agree. We can keep the numbers necessary for this project small. No offense, Coran, but you are not an engineer by trade. I am. You can trust me, can't you?"

"Of course." Coran responded.

"Good. I can begin work on a design immediately, consulting you of course on the mathematics. Between the two of us, and our present friends doing the grunt work, there is no reason why the planning, manufacturing, or use of this project need extend beyond anyone in this room."

"Unless you think these people would be able to safely mine Agroium, I doubt it."

"My suspicion is that we could use an enriching process similar to the ones we use for other heavy metals. It's mostly inert in smaller concentrations after all… we would then be able to properly contain the enriched fuel in a much more secure manner."

At this point, the party gave up trying to understand or get the two to speak proper language the rest of them could comprehend. "I suspect they will inform us when we are needed. Let's go." Aidan ordered, gesturing for them to move out of the cramped space.

Devona, however, lingered, stopping at the doorway. The only other time she heard Coran so… engrossed and passionate about something was… and then immediately blushed at the thought. Truth be told, she was curious. She rather wanted to know more about her betrothed's other love, the one that kept him sane and occupied for a decade.

"You know, if we created a particle injection system that introduced the shattering force at a particle level, we could probably drastically improve the yield to initial force level dramatically." Coran noted to Vekk as his friends filtered out, apparently oblivious to the fact.

"A gold filament would probably be the perfect injector… stable and able to carry a strong electric flow… the electric particles would probably be the ideal catalyst, really. Requires little power and moves easily across any medium." The Asuran genius responded.

"Would those particles have enough mass to start the reaction, though, even on a particulate level?"

"Good point… but we do know that electric particles can act on larger ones. We might have to experiment to find an ideal charge to set off the chain reaction we would need."

"Far away from the academy grounds, I would hope."

"Isn't there a large weapons testing range in a nearby chamber?"

"Clearly you don't grasp the degree of power we're talking about here as well as you say."

"Well, I mean we could test a little bit of it… a scale testing."

"Planning on a one-one millionth scale test there, Vekk?"

Devona's eyes dashed back and forth between the tit for tat, like she was watching a match of two squares; only in this case, she would have no infernal idea about the rules of two squares or the purpose of the game.

"Well, how do you suppose we determine if this concept will work?" The Asuran asked.

"We have a veritable and literal goddess of knowledge we can consult, you do realize."

"Yes, because as has been determined recently, your gods have just been full of truthfulness and honest helpfulness in the past."

Devona scoffed. "Couldn't you find somewhere else to test this… thing? I'm sure there are several sites above ground that could work."

Coran shook his head, "You have no idea what you're talking about, love. The sort of power I'm referring to would be painfully evident to anyone within miles. No matter where we did it, it would shatter the very wall of secrecy we are trying to maintain."

"Well, pardon me for trying to find a solution." Devona snarled, and abruptly turned about, feeling slighted. Even as she knew he hadn't meant it as an insult… the implication was still rather demeaning.

"Could you hold that thought for a moment?" Coran asked rhetorically, as he was already moving out the door after his betrothed before the sentence was even finished.

"Sure." Vekk said to no one in particular, and rolled his eyes. You can take the human out of the stupid, but apparently you can't fully take the stupid out of the human.

He caught up quickly to warrior, but that said, Devona wasn't exactly trying to flee. "Is something wrong, dearest?" Coran asked. "Did I offend you somehow?"

She stopped at the entrance of the Paragon Hall, and asked, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Coran blinked rapidly, fearing a trick question. "No. Of course not."

"Do you think you're smarter than me?"

"That's a qualification that I can't make. I am more educated than you are. I am more learned. Intelligence isn't something that can be so neatly and empirically proven."

Devona sighed, and tilted her head in confused frustration.

Coran half-grinned, and reiterated, "I am saying that my knowledge doesn't necessarily come from any perceived intelligence. That's impossible to say. I merely had opportunities to learn things you didn't."

Devona turned away, rubbing her shoulder nervously. "I… I just… when you disappeared… I turned to my training, to combat, to cope. My training became my lifeline; it's how I stayed sane without… without you. I wanted to see what it was that made you cope in turn."

Coran turned his betrothed back to face him. "Well, what you tried to do was somewhat analogous to me picking up a sword and trying to step into a duel you were engaged in. Much as a child needs to learn to crawl before he or she can learn to walk and eventually run; much as a warrior in training needs to learn the stance and techniques before; so to does one need to learn the basic fundamentals of science before trying to inject their thoughts on very complicated discussions of detonative device testing."

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, "Perhaps, when I have more free time on my hands, I can try to teach you… provided your willingness, of course."

"I wouldn't mind that at all… I suspect getting a wrong calculation would be a lot less painful than making a wrong decision on a parry."

Coran raised his eyebrows, "Have you _seen_ what happens when an Asura makes a mistake on one of their machinations? Come with me… I think you'll quickly discover the fault in your estimation."

As Coran then guided her further down the basement levels of the Academy of Atal Ra, toward a floor specifically labeled the "Floor of Utterly Broken Asuran Resources", Devona was already starting to question her decision…


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty-Four**

Devona stared with all her warrior's focus at the delicate instrument in her hands, counting on Aidan to effectively lead her through the mine shaft while she waited for the pinging sound and flashing lights on the detection unit to indicate they were approaching an Agroium vein.

Of course, the signal couldn't be too strong; that would imply the vein was too rich, and therefore dangerous. Thus her intense focus… the line between a suitable and unsuitable ore was likely a thin one indeed.

However, in this case… the detector stood silent, as it had been for the last three tunnels she and Aidan had explored.

"Maybe it's broken?" She finally suggested, gently tapping the unit on her palm. It didn't rattle or make any sound that something was out of place.

"Or it could be that Agroium is as rare as Vekk and Coran suggested." Aidan offered far too rationally for Devona's tastes at that time. "Could you imagine what this world would be like if something as potentially destructive as this mineral supposedly is was marginally abundant?"

"I suppose…"

He stopped, pondering the fork in the tunnel, and which path might yield better results. He then felt Devona bump into him, nearly knocking his Forward Lighting Apparatus Shining Highly Linear Illumination Gradients to Help Travel from his hand (Aidan had begun to understand why the Asura got into the habit of using acronyms, merely informing their krewes of the equipment manifest of their tasks would wind up taking half the day otherwise).

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She said with a hint of embarrassment that made her seem like she was a mere teenager again.

There was a time that such an action would have been unbearably adorable to the ranger, prompting a visit to his "personal water supply." But this time, to his surprise, he felt no such tug on his heart strings. Instead, he felt annoyed by his guild leader once again losing sight of the larger picture in her intense focus on a single detail and goal. It really was one of her most irritating traits, and a potentially dangerous flaw for a leader.

That observation startled him. The fact that he didn't see an enchanting mortal goddess, and instead simply saw a woman, his guild leader, astonished him for a moment. He had known of her shortcomings, of course, but now, he finally saw them as truly distasteful, and it was a bit of a shock.

Nonetheless, Aidan prided himself on being infinitely adaptable, and his reason once again did not fail him. He was not going to be like Yue; hopelessly attached to someone who really was simply another human being, and not something to be worshipped. Coran could have the girl; and may the gods grant him mercy.

"Aidan, are you all right?"

His vision centered from the space it had drifted off into and back on Devona. "Yes, my apologies; got a little lost in thought myself. I suppose the fork that goes further into the earth would be my best guess, so shall we proceed?"

Devona didn't even have time to agree before the muffled sounds of a particularly loud explosion rocked the tunnel, dropping smaller rocks and dust onto their heads. The pair looked at each other, and instantly had the same thought.

"Cynn." They said in unison, and took off at a sprint towards the segment of the mine she and Mhenlo had been assigned to survey.

* * * * *

Unlike Devona's detector, Mhenlo's device was pinging quite audibly, the display flashing several veins in the vicinity, most of them far too rich for safe extraction. Like Vekk had said, Mhenlo could feel the energy in the air radiating from the ore, which was another sign that what they had found wasn't usable.

Cynn however, was undaunted, enamored by the crystalline blue tinted silver color flecks that were present in the rocks, the hue Agroium took when in high enough concentrations. "So, this is stuff we're looking for, huh?"

"Well yes… and no." Mhenlo noted nervously as he heard the cheer in his wife's voice and the gleam in her eyes. "If I remember the lesson we were given correctly, the percentage of Agroium in these rocks is too high to mine safely."

"These little things?" She asked disbelievingly, pointing towards the end of the tunnel mere feet ahead. "How could they possibly be _that_ dangerous? I think your little toy there is busted."

To be honest, Mhenlo didn't try more forcefully to stop her for two reasons. Firstly; he had to admit that he didn't see how such little things could be so dangerous either, and secondly; he honestly wanted to see if Cynn was actually going to do such menial labor.

With surprisingly no complaint as to the nature of the work she was about to perform, Cynn firmly gripped the mining pick that up to that point she could barely deign to hold up off the ground, and took a solid thwack at the compressed earth in front of her. It took a few more strikes to successfully dislodge a sizeable piece; and true to Vekk's lecture, some of the flecks ignited into small fingers of flame that burned out as quickly as they lit.

"See? Nothing big at all!" Cynn said encouragingly between grunts as she continued her picking. "Sometimes, I wonder if Vekk is overly cautious to make up for the complete abandon the rest of his kind possess."

Mhenlo wasn't quite as certain, especially as the detector in his hand started pinging with greater intensity, likely due to greater purity ore being exposed. "Cynn… perhaps you should…"

He was interrupted by a bellowing plume of flame that nearly caught Cynn directly in the face, and managed to singe the shoulder of her vest. Quickly patting the garment to make sure it wasn't ignited; Cynn peered more closely at the small hole she had scoured. "Ah yes… now I see."

"See what?"

"Much more Agroium in here." She noted calmly. "A vein of it, looks like… about a coin's width across."

"Well, then, perhaps we should load up what we have and look for another site." Mhenlo advised nervously. He didn't like it when Cynn sounded calm. It meant danger.

"No need for that." His wife said, hefting her pick and sizing up her next strike. "I can work around it. Imagine how Coran and Vekk would like samples they won't have to work as hard to get into proper form?"

"Cynn… that's probably not a good idea…"

"Rubbish!" She interrupted, judging the angle she'd need to take. "I have everything under control…"

Mhenlo barely had time to enclose the both of them in the strongest protective prayer he knew before Cynn brought the pick down with all her strength, and set off a violent explosion that engulfed them both in a flash of flame and smoke.

By the time Devona and Aidan arrived on the scene, the fire had died, and both heroes were trying to pull themselves off the ground, caked in ash and burnt residue. The prayers Mhenlo had made had saved their lives… but not much else.

"Dwayna answered my prayers this time… fortunate, because I acted out of instinct rather than beseech Kormir like rationality would have required." Mhenlo grumbled as Aidan helped him to his feet.

Cynn, due to her closer proximity to the blast, was in worse shape. Devona dropped to a kneeling position, and pulled the elementalist into her lap. Cynn's face was cut in several places, her clothing barely tatters. What little skin was visible underneath the blackened soot was bruised or bleeding.

"Cynn!" Devona ordered, brushing away crud from the woman's eyes, nose, and mouth. "Say something!"

The warrior was rewarded with a series of coughs, and a weak rasp from the elementalist. "We got Agro… ium."

Eve and Yue then arrived, their sack barely filled, suggesting they had precious little more luck than Devona and Aidan. Eve surveyed the scene, and sighed forlornly. "Curses. Everyone's alive."

"What was that racket?" Pyre's voice growled from the opposite junction that Devona and Aidan had arrived from. Unlike the rest of the team, his bag and Gwen's were nearly bulging with rocks. "If you six are done fooling around, the mouse and I have everything we need. Let's get out of this cramped mine."


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty-Five**

Devona stepped into the mechanics lab, ignoring the "Keep Out" warning signs, bowl in hand, progressing towards the engineering bay where her betrothed and Asuran partner-in-crime were still working studiously, and had been save nothing but sleep for the last two weeks.

In truth, she was rather jealous that Coran's attention had been stolen away by a machination of what was promised to be obliterating destruction. It was during that time that Yue, in a surprising moment of friendliness and perhaps sympathy, introduced the warrior to the confection she was now consuming.

She found Coran and Vekk in the center of the bay, buried halfway in the rounded rectangular tube, with wires, contraptions, and other assorted knick-knacks strewn about seeming haphazardly.

"Coran… let me do this." Vekk said matter-of-factly. "Gold filament isn't cheap, and I have smaller hands."

"Very well." Her betrothed answered.

"How is the project progressing, gentlemen?" Devona asked in between bites.

Coran's body went rigid in unison with a metallic thud, and his yelp of pain.

"Careful with the casing!" Vekk chided as Coran emerged rubbing the back of his head. "I don't care if it _is_ forged Titanium."

"Could you give a little warning next time, love?" Coran said with a pained groan as he wiped black oily grease from his hands with a towel. He then noticed her shovel another spoonful into her mouth, and rolled his eyes, "Yue's got you hooked on that stuff too?"

"It's good." Devona replied while swallowing. "Anyway… I came to inform you that you received a 'top priority' package that you and Vekk were supposedly waiting for."

Vekk popped his head out of the machination, his eyes bulging with what Devona assumed was anticipation. "It's here? Where is it?"

"Right outside the lab." Devona gestured with her spoon towards the bay exit. "The Mechanical Krewe carted it over to the main door. I figured from the roughly forty "FRAGILE" stamps on the container that it wasn't something I should be handling, so I figured I'd let you know so you two could bring it in."

Devona had never known Vekk could move so fast. He was off his stepstool and out of the bay towards the front of the lab before she could have even drawn her hammer. Coran attempted to follow, but the Asuran was already wheeling the cart, laden with a large reinforced wooden box through the empty laboratory and into the engineering bay.

"One modulating current resistor courtesy of the fine machinists of Utopia!" Vekk chirped… he seemed so excited Devona was expecting him to start skipping at any moment.

"Huh? Where?" Devona asked.

Coran's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "What? You've never been to the clockwork city?"

"I've never even heard of it!" She replied, and she thought she had been everywhere.

"There's a whole world out there, my dear." Coran said with a kiss on her forehead. "You think Atal Ra boggles your mind, you should see the Cronus Center, also called the Hub of Time."

"Or the Tempora Archway." Vekk added, nodding sagely.

"Is… this another Asuran town?" Devona asked, her brain sufficiently scrambled, and noticing her iced cream was now gone. With a forlorn sigh, she set the bowl down on a relatively uncluttered work station.

Coran rubbed her shoulders soothingly. "Actually, it isn't. No one knows _who_ constructed it, much like the Eye of the North. Currently, all sorts of races live in the clockwork city, blessed with extraordinary manufacturing resources; much of the delicate components used in Asuran machinery are developed and fabricated within Utopia."

"Speaking of which…" Vekk declared, a crowbar materializing in his hand that Devona could not figure out how it got there or where it had come from, prying the top of the sturdy crate with remarkable deftness. The size of the box belied its contents, as Vekk reached in and starting throwing out clumps of a white, fluffy, foam material.

He eventually emerged with _another_ box, this one of cardboard, in his hands and prompting Devona to ask, "Is that really necessary?"

"If you understood just how delicately tuned this instrument was and how little force would be needed to completely throw the entire unit out of alignment, a unit that has to be precise to within one ten thousandths of a nanonode, you would understand why such studious packing is required."

That box he opened carefully with his knife, and pulled out several sheets of a clear, seemingly rippled plastic before finally producing the object in question, a mish mash of wire and gold, silver, and copper metals. "I will have this calibrated promptly, and have it added to our test device." Vekk replied. "Coran, make sure the other modulator is in there, then you can help me mount the system."

Coran nodded in affirmation as Vekk was about to leave, but before he could, Devona asked warily, "If you have to adjust the thing anyway… why was such packing necessary again?"

The two males looked at each other with bemusement, and Coran thrust one sheet of the rippled plastic in front of Devona. "Here, have fun."

She took the plastic in question warily, noting that it actually wasn't rippled at all… instead the plastic seemed to have pockets of air trapped inside at regular intervals that caused the two separate sheets to form a raised pattern. "What is this?"

"Bulged Uniform Bubbles Beneath Layered Elastic Wrapping Required for Ample Packaging, known more simply as B.U.B.B.L.E.W.R.A.P." Coran explained, his lips tugging upward in a grin. "Close your fingers around one."

Nervously, Devona did as requested, pinching one of the bubbles between thumb and forefinger, then jerking with a start at the sharp popping sound it created. After several moments of silence as she processed exactly what had happened, the warrior took another exploratory effort, prepared for the sound and sensation this time, and releasing a short giggle. Further popping occurred with greater amusement and vigor, sometimes two at a time, and even a series of snaps as she twisted the wrapping among itself. When the first sheet was exhausted, she noted with glee that it had several siblings within the cardboard box.

"That should keep her occupied for hours." Coran noted with a hint of amusement. "It should give us plenty of time to finish our work."

He started to walk back towards the bay, only stopping to grab Vekk by the back of his collar, as the Asuran hadn't moved, entranced and envious at the sight of Devona at play. He protested with a whine as he was picked up and carried into the engineering bay with a pitiful, "But.. but… but I waaaaaaant…"


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter Forty-Six**

"Alright… that should do it." Coran said, closing and sealing shut the Agroium Total Obliteration Machine.

Vekk and Coran were then graced with the glowing presence of Kormir, a presence that even drew Devona's attention from her gleeful enjoyment of her new toy.

"I hope the device meets your high standards and approval." Vekk said distastefully.

The Goddess of Knowledge circled once around the explosive contraption, half walking and half floating before stopping at the domed front of the tube, slightly startled. "I… was not expecting this." She said with a degree of surprise.

"Meaning?"

"I had anticipated a fissionable unit… it's generally the easiest and most practical step in particle advancement. You two have skipped roughly three stages and went right to a matter inversion detonation."

"So I assume it will meet the required force necessary?" Coran asked.

"Indeed."

"Well, begging your pardon, Miss Trustworthy, but I'd rather not just take your word for it." Vekk sneered.

"Yes, I'm sure… which is why I am offering you a safe and non-detectable testing site." The goddess said. From her vantage point, Devona was almost certain the former Spearmarshal was grinning knowingly.

"Where?"

"The Hall of Heroes. My fellow gods have agreed to keep the stadium empty for a short time for you to perform the tests you deem essential. We can even create a controlled environment for you to analyze the detonation from a considerably closer distance than you could on in the physical world."

"Would that be suitable, Vekk?" Coran asked with a slightly patronizing lilt.

"It will have to be, considering our limited options." The Asura acknowledged in resignation. "I will need not even an hour to assemble my scanners and testing equipment. I hope there's nothing terribly pressing on your schedule."

"I have all the time that I need." Kormir replied cheerily in complete antithesis to Vekk's dour skepticism; demonstrating a playful streak Devona had never seen from the goddess even when she had been mortal.

As the Asuran genius muttered grumpily to himself, stomping back and forth out of the engineering bay with various pieces of equipment, objects nearly as large as himself on two occasions, Kormir turned about to regard Devona. "It would be rather improper to take these two gentlemen and leave you here all by your lonesome."

"I've only been to the Hall of Heroes one time, and it was a rather short visit at that. I would love to go again." The warrior answered, not even the power of B.U.B.B.L.E.W.R.A.P. was strong enough to overcome the allure of the jewel in every gladiator's crown.

"Meh." Vekk groused as he tossed down another satchel of equipment, "She's still trying to be interested in the sort of things her mate is doing."

"A noble endeavor." Kormir answered.

"Alright, Little Miss God of Sweetness, whatever." Vekk huffed. "I'm ready. Let's not waste any more time. The sooner we get this tested, the sooner Coran and I can construct the final device."

"You really should have a more pleasant attitude." Kormir chided teasingly. "Stress is a greater strain on your body than any food or drink."

Vekk was not amused, and his expression and posture suggested as much. "Let's just go."

"Very well." The Goddess of Knowledge relented. "Everyone gather round me. We shall be in the Hall of Heroes with great haste."

"Wouldn't everyone else want to come along…?" Devona began.

"And waste another half hour or more gathering everybody?" Vekk snarled. "No thanks. Get over here or we're leaving you behind as well."

* * * * *

True to form, it was but a blink, and the world changed. By the time Devona opened her eyes, the reddish yellow, sunless sky of the Mists above hovered above the elaborate and alien architecture of the Hall of Heroes.

"Devona, make yourself useful and help Coran move the device into the center of the arena." Vekk ordered, "The sooner we can get out of his den of lies, the better. Shoo!"

The warrior reluctant obeyed as Vekk busied himself with readying his small arsenal of measuring equipment and sensors.

"I sense you do not terribly like me very much." Kormir noted almost whimsically.

"Your senses are as keen as your supposed knowledge." Vekk retorted. "Although, to be fair, it has nothing to do with you personally, but what you represent."

"Care to elaborate?"

Vekk gestured towards the center of the arena, where Devona and Coran had started to set up the A.T.O.M. bomb, as Coran somewhat bemusedly called it in redundant fashion. "Look at Coran, look at what he has become once freed of your influence. There was a time where I thought humans were largely dumb as rocks. Now I know better. It's you… the 'gods'." Vekk paused to give that last word little quotation marks with his fingers. "The general people put all their faith in you. They don't try to learn the ways of the world on their own. They don't have the curiosity to figure out why things are the way they are. Humans, as a whole, are more than happy to let you and your kin take care of all those little details, while they live in blissful ignorance, stunted in their rightful growth and development as a race. I find that larely deplorable… oh and let's not even get _into_ the body of lies your brethren created and cultivated to _cause_ that very culture of stagnation…"

"But the Forgotten of Atal Ra have several shrines to the gods within their halls, the Forgotten who taught your kind much of the basis of your knowledge." Kormir countered. "And Coran still gives the gods prayers and faith."

"Yes, well… the Asurans tolerate it out of respect to the Ssleth. That's all." Vekk snorted. "And I didn't exactly see any gods charging to our aid during the siege by the Destroyers."

"But Vekk… I thought you said the Asurans didn't _want_ help."

"You think you're amusing. You're not."

Kormir sighed in surrender. "Believe it or not, Vekk… the gods have taken great pains to remove ourselves from the mortal world since the early ages and the betrayal of Abaddon. We learned exactly what you claim. Should we abandon our people entirely? Should we completely forget what we once were?"

Vekk was silent, hoping that it appeared it was just encouraging her to continue rather than accept the fact that he didn't particularly want to answer the question.

"Nevertheless… I suppose you shall find out the limits of humanity freed from our near omnipresence."

Vekk's ears perked as he resumed his work. "You really believe killing this Bhu'khahuh will truly mean the death of you and your kin?"

"It is a strong possibility, yes, and even if it doesn't mean our demise, it most certainly will cause us great harm and weaken us significantly. But we are willing to accept that risk if it means the safety of the people we chose to guide and watch over."

The goddess's head abruptly jerked towards the south entrance to the arena, and said, "Well Vekk, it appears even my 'influence' over humanity doesn't guarantee they will follow my wishes."

Vekk had never seen the apparition before, so the ghostly human meant little to him. He seemed a sturdy Ascalonian type, not that they didn't all look the same to him, really.

"My apologies, lady of knowledge." The ghost said with a respectful bow, "But when I learned of your arrival and your guests… I had to come. You see, milady, the last words I spoke with one of your guests was in anger… and rarely do the dead get the chance to take back what was said. I beg you… allow me this opportunity. I will not dwell long."

"Very well." Kormir acquiesced, stepping to the side not so much to clear the way but symbolize her acceptance. The apparition took the distance rapidly towards Devona and Coran, who had finished whatever settings they had been attending to, and regarded the visitor.

The goddess of knowledge then straightened, and spoke seemingly to no one in particular, "And when do you plan on stepping forward?"

A voice from the edges of the arena, belonging to a figure mostly cloaked in shadows answered, "I will have my time when our first guest is done. I'd rather not overwhelm the couple with so many long lost faces all at once."

"I trust there isn't anyone else." Vekk grumbled, seeing yet another series of unnecessary delays. "I'm serious; this takes too long and I'm starting the test regardless of who is fluttering about."

* * * * *

"Okay…" Coran said more to himself than Devona. "Everything is still stable, diagnostics look good; this is a very good sign… if the device couldn't remain fully operational with the jarring it took to get to this point, it would have no chance of keeping itself functional during the much more forceful injection it would have into Bhu'khahuh's chamber."

"Makes sense." Devona replied, and to her astonishment, found that it actually _did_.

They were interrupted when a surprisingly familiar baritone spoke up, "When I made my long trip to the mists, and I didn't sense you in the Underworld, or anywhere else, I knew you had to be alive somewhere, Coran. It gave me ease to know that our father's line continued in the land of the living."

Coran and Devona looked up simultaneously at the ghostly armored man, sans the normal bridged helmet he normally wore, fully revealing his heavily haired face and head.

Devona figured the ghost could not have expected a pleasant greeting from the Headmaster of Atal Ra. The terms in which the pair parted, in what would prove to be the last time the brothers ever saw each other in the mortal realm, had not been kind; from what she learned.

In fact, the warrior was rather surprised that Coran gave the apparition any acknowledgement at all. Instead, the headmaster stood, and stood face to face with the ghost, his features remaining cool and composed, the same cold restraint Devona had felt whenever Coran and Adelbern had been in the same room lately.

Coran's greeting was short, concise, and not promising anything beyond that single word.

"Rurik."


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty-Seven**

Several tense seconds passed as brother stared down brother, than the ghostly elder sibling made his move, embracing the younger affectionately.

"It is good to see you again, and in the flesh unlike me." Rurik noted warmly.

"You realize I can't return the favor because I'd just go right through you." Coran noted, not that it would have mattered since his arms had not moved from his sides and didn't appear like there was any inclination to do so.

The elder prince turned grim quickly. "How is our father?"

"Mentally deteriorating at a rapid pace." Coran answered with apparent disinterest. "His grasp of reality is slipping to the point where he's gained complete tunnel vision towards the Charr while a world devouring threat rouses beneath his feet."

"What is your plan?"

A shrug from the younger brother followed the answer, "First and foremost, deal with the near and present danger. Once that has been settled, I'll address the issue of my father's degenerating mental health. I'd rather avoid a… mandatory retirement… but I will do so if it comes to that. I can't imagine the Lords and Dukes putting up too much of a fuss… not many of them were particularly fond of our father anyway."

Devona at that point stood and decided to join the pair, prompting Rurik to acknowledge her presence. "Devona, my friend, it's good to see you as well. I see you've found my wayward kin as well…" He paused momentarily and grinned, "I do believe it's been a while, but are you two still betrothed?"

Coran looked at his dear warrior, and she replied simply. "Yes, we are."

"Now, as much as I would love to continue chatting, my brother, we do have business to attend to in a prompt manner." Coran interjected, though he did pause one more long moment before adding, "I don't hold any ill will towards you or my father, if you were curious."

Rurik nodded. "I suspect we will have an eternity to catch up when your time on the mortal coil has passed." He slowly retreated, vanishing just as much as stepping back.

For all his words of comfort, Coran's posture and expression after the ghostly apparition of his brother vanished did not exactly exude good will, either. With a degree of annoyance, he said, "I suspect Vekk is growing impatient. Come along, my dear."

But at that point, Devona was no longer even aware of her betrothed's presence, her attention focused entirely on another ghostly hero that had made its appearance.

"My apologies, your highness, but I will not interfere with your mission. May I have a moment aside with my daughter while you conduct your duties?" Mordekai asked respectfully.

The old hero of Ascalon was astounded by the pair and how they had grown. Grenth take it, the last time he had seen Prince Coran the boy had barely been up to Mordekai's knee.

"I'm not the one that you should be asking permission of." Coran answered. Stepping away and yielding the decision to his companion as he continued his path towards Vekk and the testing equipment that had been set up.

His daughter… if the gods had taken the best parts of him and Allisette, the result would be near exactly the woman that was in front of him now. Mordekai choked up, flooded with regret that he never had the chance to see his daughter grow up and mature into the remarkable young lady that she had become.

Her eyes glistened with tears that she refused to let fall out of her warrior's pride, but she couldn't prevent her voice from betraying her. Giving up on speaking after three choked attempts, she gestured far to the north side of the arena floor where, judging from Vekk and Coran's placement, would be both safe from the explosion as well as out of the way.

They crossed the empty arena in silence, a nervous uncertainty that didn't stop once they reached their destination.

"My baby girl…" Mordekai began, phantom fingers tracing her cheek, but couldn't continue as the words wouldn't cooperate. "I'm so glad to see you…" He started as Devona shied away from him, her features ashamed and distraught.

"I've tried so hard to live up to your name." Devona admitted. "But… I know I haven't. I… shamed our family, and dishonored you."

Mordekai was aghast at that statement. "How could you possibly think you haven't honored me? All I did was fight some petty guild battles. I couldn't… watch over you… but I've heard. The stories the recently departed speak, if half of them are true, I should be unworthy of you! You've bested gods, for the love of Dwayna!"

"Obviously, you haven't heard all of the stories." She said morosely, and with a timid voice that could not have been less suited for her, relayed her humiliations to the ghost of her father.

Mordekai barely fought back a laugh. "My girl… do you honestly think I would have been more staunch against a foe that forced me to see what it wanted and plagued my mind with unholy nightmares? I could never had stirred the courage to walk into the home of my enemies after such an ordeal."

His hands dropped like a hint of a breeze on his daughter's shoulders. "Devona… you should never worry about disappointing me. Even if you had grown to be a seamstress like your mother and never touched a hammer or blade, I would have been proud of you. You are my blood, and could never shame me or our family. Don't use me as your measure of greatness. You have already surpassed my marks ten times over."

Devona sniffled, and whispered, "Thank you, daddy…"

And that's when the Mists themselves trembled, and the arena was bathed in angry white light moments before a deafening roar that would have caused Glint to cower assaulted the warrior's ears.

Mordekai turned his head to see a column of energy towering even the tallest of towers within the Hall of Heroes and extending to the highest reaches of his vision. Devona had whirled about, momentarily blinded by the flash, to see the fallout create a plume thousands of feet above. Her jaw dropped in awe, and as quickly as the brilliant inferno had flared to life, it dispelled into nothing.

"Now, of course, the explosion won't be so neatly contained in the physical world, without my hand to force it to behave." Kormir explained, "But I trust you gathered a good idea as to the effectiveness of the detonation?"

"Are you well, madam goddess?" Coran asked smugly. "You look somewhat tried."

"I am not too proud to admit that your machination tested the limits of my power to control. Inverted matter yields tremendous energy when introduced to its normal counterpart." The goddess muttered.

"That's putting it mildly. The yield was 118% what I had estimated. We might have to revise the equations if we can get any data from the real time blast and it returns similar over-production." Vekk declared, quite pleased with himself.

"We'll worry about the data after the present danger is neutralized." Coran retorted, and Devona could see his determined, steely features form as she closed the distance. "For now, we know the device works, and will do what we need it to do. Now, we'll return to the bay, build the final product, and put an end to the 'father' of the gods."

"And you question your courage." Mordekai said with a shake of his head. "I don't think I'd last five minutes with the motley crew you associate with."


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter Forty-Eight**

Medical Krewechief Simsim had seen troubling cases, but never had she been charged to heal a damaged mind, like the one from the scryer in her care. In all honesty, she had written him off as hopeless; beyond their knowledge to heal, and it had seemed like a fair assessment. All the poor scryer did since returning from the mission that obliterated his rational mind was flail mindlessly (to the point he needed to be restrained out of fear he would harm himself), and babble unintelligibly.

Until today, that is.

The patient abruptly screamed, and Simsim dashed to where the scryer was straining against his restraints, wailing like the damned. The medical officer applied the strongest sedative she could safely administer, but the damaged Asura male was far beyond any mortal agency.

After several minutes of the anguished screams, and the attention of six other Medical Krewemen, the tortured patient went still, and looked like he was starting to drift into the medicated sleep Simsim had hoped upon him.

Then the scryer's head snapped in her direction, his eyes crazed and feared, and from his lips uttered what Simsim realized was a translation of what she had assumed was the incoherent babble from before.

"Within the depths of Ka'hu'se, dread Bhu'kahuh lies dreaming,  
There he has slept for ages,  
Within the rock and stone prison of his sons',  
Until the fire of mortal man shall heat his throne,  
Then by man and god he is to exact vengeance,  
In roaring he shall rise and devour the world."

The scryer's lower lip trembled frightfully. "It is too late. The end beast comes…"

* * * * *

"I understand this probably isn't the best time or place to discuss this…"

Devona jerked up from the B.U.B.B.L.E.W.R.A.P. that she had been amusedly been toying with to discover that Coran had pulled away from the final anti-matter device he and Vekk were constructing, wiping his hands clean as he spoke to her.

He had drawn silent, either due to nervousness or waiting for some form of prompt from her. "Go on." She permitted.

"I want to talk about our wedding."

Devona hadn't meant to go rigid at the thought; it was just a little disconcerting… in all the time they had been betrothed, never once had the word "wedding" passed either of their lips; it was one of those things that always seemed so far off that it really didn't matter.

Coran noted Devona's reaction, and said glumly, "Yeah… bad time…"

"No… No!" The warrior replied; the second time more forcefully in case the first time wasn't enough to get his attention. "I just… hadn't given it much thought."

Coran sat down across from her, and agreed, "Neither have I, but I think we should. Depending on how you want to be regarded, we might want to consider having our wedding soon… provided we all live long enough to see it, of course."

Devona blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It's a quirk of Ascalonian law, regarding marriage of royalty. After the threat of Bhu'khahuh is nullified, I don't anticipate waiting very long to push for the crown. My father's degenerating sanity can't be allowed to maintain leadership very long."

The warrior felt really uncomfortable listening to this; even from the current crown prince, and even though it was something Coran had alluded to a handful of times in the past. "What does this have to do with me?"

"If I become king, and then we are married; you become queen, no ifs ands or buts. You'd get your own coronation and everything, by the law of Ascalon. Sounds delightful, doesn't it?"

Devona glowered, as she didn't feel the sarcasm was appropriate. "No, it doesn't."

"Well, if we are married _before_ I become king, you are under no such obligation. The heaviest title you would carry is 'princess', and even then, considering I am not actively serving my duties as prince at this time, a case could be made that you wouldn't even officially have to carry that title, either."

"That sounds better."

"So, I think you see why we probably don't have much time." Coran noted.

"But… I have no idea how this works!" Devona protested. "I… I… don't even know what I'm supposed to say at the ceremony!"

Coran chuckled, "I suspect you don't have to worry about that. Cynn has apparently been planning this event since our reunion. It was actually her questions to me about it that made me realize it was something we should probably address."

"Of course she has." The warrior grumbled.

He slid closer to the warrior, and gently pulled the B.U.B.B.L.E.W.R.A.P. from her hands so that he could take them in his own. "I suppose I should be honest… Cynn's planning is merely the excuse I'm using. I've run away from you far too many times, and the time has come for me to stop."

"It's also time for you to stop dawdling, and help me finish this damn thing." Vekk grumped from across the bay.

Devona smiled, and pecked Coran on the cheek. "I'll tell Cynn to plan for the day after Bhu'khahuh is destroyed. Now, you should get back to work so that there _is_ a day after."

But even as the headmaster stood, the bay was flooded with a flashing red light, and a siren's howl from above. Vekk popped his head out of the weapon, and a halfway geared Asuran warrior burst into the laboratory, tripping over his own two feet and crashing painfully to the floor.

The little fighter struggled to his feet before any of the three could reach him, and with panic declared, "Hideous beasts have emerged from the lower caverns. Krewechief Norrit and the First Elite Defense Krewe have already mobilized to support the checkpoint defenses, but early reports suggest numbers beyond what can be repelled. Krewechief Norrit recommends immediate evacuation."

Coran whipped his head to Vekk, and the Asuran engineer answered the unspoken question, "It's not finished, and if this movement from our foes means what we think it means, then it won't be enough to do the job, anyway."

Coran could feel the clammy terror start to drip down his spine, a sensation he had felt to a much stronger degree once before. With all the willpower he possessed (and perhaps the assistance from divine providence), he fought back the fear. These next hours, and even minutes, were critical, and must be addressed with as level a head as possible.

He could see Devona's face pale, and knew she felt the presence as well; all the more reason why he had to remain alert. His beloved had faced this nightmare enough.

"Have all Defense Krewes mobilize to assist in the evacuation." Coran ordered, snatching his communications device from his belt. "Call the First Engineering Krewe to report to this location and help us move this device to the Ascalon exit of the Atal Ra cavern. Set evacuation time to one hour. At that point, have all stages of all blast doors sealed."

"Anything else, Headmaster?" The soldier queried.

"Yes, you better get to your duty… after you find the rest of your gear."

The Asuran soldier snapped a salute, and dashed with all the speed his legs could carry him towards whatever destination he had set for himself. As he left, Devona's guild entered, followed by Yue, Gwen, Grazz and Pyre.

"I take it all this noise and lights are bad?" Cynn asked.

"You feel it as easily as I do, Cynn. Bhu'khahuh has finally broken loose of his prison. You can not let yourself be consumed by terror and despair. The father of the gods is not at full strength, and I have bought us time; not much, but it will be enough if we remain focused and finish the task set ahead of us. We must trust in ourselves and each other that we will find a way."

"Gods guide us in these dire times." Mhenlo prayed in a near whisper.

"Now, we must move. You will all help Vekk, Devona and I escort the A.T.O.M. bomb to the Ascalonian exit to the chamber. Preserving this weapon, and Vekk's life, as he is the only one who could possibly modify the weapon to handle the change in plans, is of utmost priorty, even over our own lives."

"Pyre and Grazz, you will return to the Charr lands, and oversee a mustering of the Charr in anticipation of a counter-offensive. It's a slim chance, but we will need every able body you can manage… the end scenario being retaking enough of the cavern to mount the A.T.O.M. bomb into its launch position."

He regarded the men and women that he had come to think of as his inner circle. "We all know what we have to do. Move out."


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty-Nine**

Elite Krewechief Norrit always believed that the truest test of a warrior, and the true sum of their greatness, was when they faced certain death. For the First Elite Defense Krewe, that test had now come.

They had not begun well… seven of his men lost in the initial exchange while they blubbered fearfully, allowing five of those damned Bookahs to waltz right by as their Oni and Titan minions began their killing spree, wiping out the entire Second Elite Defense Krewe, and the seven previously mentioned of his.

That ended now, no matter what demon or god was whispering sweet terror in his ear.

"Phalanx, center on me!" Norrit bellowed as ferociously as he could, which being Asuran, sounded more like a kitten trying to roar. "There will be no more cowering, no more running! We are the best, the greatest, and the stoutest of all Asuran warriors!"

"Let this be our finest and greatest moment!" The proud little warrior declared. "Stalwart defensive phalanx stratagem, initiate!"

Quickly falling into ranks, his men dropped their shields, wedging the tips into the ground below, glaive points ready to jut through the small gaps in the shield wall. From his position in the rear, he drug his broad bladed weapon across the last of the five lines in his phalanx, then slipped through to the front, taking the position of honor at the front center of the formation.

"Not another monster will cross that line while one of us still breathes!"

The next wave of creatures emerged in the distance, the gruesome tentacled maws of the Oni, towering elemental Titans, and the near invisible Seer commanders blending into the darkness of the tunnel. The final battle of the First Elite Defense Krewe was soon to be met.

* * * * *

"Let it be known that this transport rig was meant to be run along the initial rail line, where its speed would then overcome any bumps in the road, to use the phrase." Vekk declared as the assembly pushed the steel framed contraption holding all living things greatest hope towards the tunnel leading to the surface of Ascalon. "This level of very unstable travel could dislodge several important and delicate systems."

"You'll get a chance to give it the once over once we're securely past the blast doors." Coran replied. "At the moment, getting out in one piece is priorty."

"Would have been nice to have Grazz and Pyre pushing." Yue complained. "Us and these Asura just aren't cutting it."

"We'll need two fronts to have a chance of pushing our enemies back long enough to launch the A.T.O.M. bomb." Coran explained, even as doing so was not kind on his lungs due to the strain he was already undergoing. "That means the Charr have to be mobilized and ready."

Meanwhile, Yue toppled over when the rig lurched out of her hand, the result of Devona's lunge. Up until this point the warrior had been quiet, conserving her energy for the labor presented.

"Less chatter. More working." The warrior grumbled. "We'll have time to argue when the work is done."

Yue recovered and retook her position next to Devona, her face now smudged with the red, clay-heavy ground of the Atal Ra cavern. "I hate you." The assassin hissed.

Devona's smile could have lit up the cavern on its own. "I know."

Then the smile abruptly disappeared, and the warrior seemed to freeze. Her sudden lack of push quickly slowed progress, and so noticeably that Coran pulled away, and asked, "Devona, what's…"

He didn't need to finish his question… as the answer materialized from the air, pockets of logic-defying shadows that formed into the four armed floating black devils called Seers. They had clearly focused on Devona, looking to exploit what they thought was a weak link.

The Seers weren't trying to stop the group… merely slow it down long enough for the invading force to catch up.

Coran bit his lower lip, and hoped that the First Elite Defense Krewe could summon their nearly inhuman will to exceed their limits one more time. The hope of all living things depended on it.

"Keep going." Coran ordered, drawing his spear and shield from his back. "I don't think I have to remind you how vital it is that you succeed."

"And where are you going?" Yue demanded, even as she knew exactly.

"I'm not running again." Coran answered grimly as he completely broke away from the still progressing party. "Even if it costs me my life."

There was a moment's hesitation from the remainder of the party… but they all knew their duty, and had all accepted long ago that said duty extended beyond even the concern and bonds of friendship they had formed. The rig jerked forward once more, settling into the fastest yet steadiest rhythm they could manage.

"If we move quickly… maybe we can come back." Cynn huffed, suddenly finding the will and desire to seriously start applying her strength, for whatever it was worth, as well.

"Of course." Mhenlo replied with a fake smile. He knew… Cynn knew… there was no way they'd have time. But it helped them for a while to pretend.

* * * * *

As much as she knew this wasn't real… it didn't help… caught like a fly in a spider web of illusion, agony, and torment.

The infernal monsters had pulled her limbs out in all directions, stripped of her clothing, holding her helpless over the immaterial ground of the otherwise completely black landscape. She felt dagger sharp teeth sink into her flesh, chewing and tearing, her blood seeping out of the wounds in crimson torrents.

As if that weren't enough, the fifth Seer had dug into her neck, slurping and ripping from the major arteries and sensitive tissue. The Seers were eating her alive.

Devona managed to turn her head towards her left arm, aghast at the mauled limb, several places stripped clean to the bone. She screamed again when she felt another deep, and otherwise fatal, bite rip into her throat, dooming her to suffer in silence as it ripped away with a triumphant flourish, blood and scraps of flesh dripping from its horrifying maw.

_Delicious food… once we have consumed your soul, your body will provide bountiful nourishment…_

The warrior had no idea which Seer had spoken, and in truth, she really didn't care. She wished for death… or insanity… anything to make the pain go away.

The Seer that had ripped out her throat lunged in again, this time towards her chest, only to vanish with a burst of purple flame. The other four stopped, and shared a silent conversation before two others vanished as well while the remaining pair continued their macabre feast.

But that sudden change lit the spark of Devona's will. Something had happened… something they didn't like.

* * * * *

Coran hefted his spear to his shoulder, and cocked his arm back. He could feel the electric crackle of the spear head ticking the hair to his front left. Still at a full sprint, he threw the Sslani crafted weapon with enough accuracy to pierce the closest Seer in the neck.

The unholy creature reared back from the blow, hissing violently despite the spear buried in its neck, the weapon vanishing a second later, and giving Coran the opportunity for the killing blow, that throw crashing with a burst of lightning through its fang filled mouth, bursting out the back of its head with a resounding clap of thunder.

As his target collapsed lifelessly, slowly starting to disintegrate, two of its allies pulled away from the circle they had formed about Devona to address the new threat.

Taking care not to make direct eye contact, Coran hefted his spear once more. "If you want the woman that badly, you have to go through me this time."

* * * * *

Even though their numbers had dwindled by half, Devona found no greater strength to escape the hell she was locked in. Despair again started to set in… hopelessness hooking into her mind when another phantom voice rose from in her ears.

_Don't give up, my child._

It wasn't the hissing, inhuman sound of the Seers… she knew this voice, she had heard it as a child, and as a woman in the Hall of Heroes. She couldn't speak, but he seemed to hear her call anyway.

_Yes, my baby girl. I'm here. I know you have the strength to fight this. This isn't real, you know that._

Of course she did, but it clearly wasn't that simple.

_Your love fights for you right now… but he can't be victorious alone._

Coran… came back? Was he the one who drew the Seers attention?

_Indeed. There's something about the line of Doric that lends them to throwing themselves into harm's way. Would have figured he was smart enough to avoid that trait._

The fool… how could he…

_You know exactly why. And if you don't want his faith in you lost, I suggest you make these Seers learn painfully the price for messing with the daughter of Mordekai._

But she couldn't… she had tried…

_I know you can… you have always been special… I always knew greatness was in your future, a future that I also know isn't over yet. I have seen your own line, my daughter, I have seen the __future you help create… the greatest heroes of generations to come will hail you as their ancestor, and your place among the highest of the heroes within the Hall. But you must stand now and break these illusionary chains._

* * * * *

It was a lot harder to kill a Seer when they saw it coming.

Coran's last throw had almost exposed him to a fatal counter, had he not swung his shield to partially block the fireball that had erupted from one of the beast's outstretched hands. Nonetheless, the Seer's partner had struck a hit, nothing but a thin line across Coran's bare right forearm, but enough to inject the virulent toxins that started to sap his strength.

The headmaster ignited the tip of his spear with a finger of flame that momentarily replaced its electric aura, and slapped the metal head against the gash, cauterizing the wound and stunting the flow of poison. Nonetheless, it had done enough to make his limbs feel like they were made of lead… he wasn't even certain if he could throw his spear again.

Not that he needed to… for as the pair moved in for what they presumed to be the kill, the Seer on the left was jerked violently from its position by a blindingly fast ball of forged steel, snapping its lower left arm at an angle that couldn't have even been natural for the shadow creature and pounding a momentary dent into its side before the carapace cracked into a burst of black shards.

It crumpled to its knees as the hammer descended again, this time at the crown of its head, the force of the swing and gravity splitting its cranium almost faster than Coran could blink, the hammer continuing through the obliterated skull and imbedding itself halfway into the torso of the swiftly slain Seer.

Devona then ripped her hammer from the victim's dissolving corpse, and lifted it haughtily into a ready position. The final Seer then whipped about to see its other allies either gone or nearly so… its focus so intent on breaking Coran that it never realized Devona had slipped free of her prison and brought retribution on her captors.

It locked eyes with the warrior, thinking it could at least incapacitate her momentarily to finish off the male, but was astonished when she returned the glare, metaphorically slapping away its mental touch like swatting away an annoying insect.

"Inconceivable." It hissed out loud. That was not supposed to happen… food was not supposed to have that strength…

"You damnable freaks have already gotten into my head _twice_." Devona snarled. "Now, it's about time I got into yours. And trust me, while my method of doing so might be different… I promise it's going to be just as painful."


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter Fifty**

Norritt was proud of his men and himself. For over one hour, they held their stretch of tunnel without losing an inch, without letting a single monster pass. The broken bodies of Titans and Oni had almost formed two layers on the tunnel floor, to points where Norritt was as tall as a human standing on the remains.

Yes, there was much pride to be had here today. So much that he sent one of his rear guard away… not to necessarily save the young Asura's life… but so that someone could remember and tell the story of the last stand of the First Elite Defense Krewe… so that someone could tell the world of the greatest Asuran warriors to ever live.

But, there comes a point where even the greatest tire… where even the sturdiest shields splinter, and the sharpest weapons lose their edge. The Krewe reached that point just shy of the two hour mark of the battle.

The lines had dwindled over the course of the battle, at some points only two deep. It was there that their enemies final charge broke through, and once the lines of the phalanx were compromised, the entire Krewe fell quickly.

To the very last man, they fought… until only Norritt was left, surrounded, wounded, and bleeding, his fallen comrades being drug away, presumably to be the "food" the Seers found sustenance in.

_You have failed, just as it was a certainty before you were ever born._

The voice of insanity hadn't spoken in such clear words before, but to Norritt, they were as blustering nonsense as ever. The great old one had no power over him.

The Asuran krewe chief smiled triumphantly, and muttered in a slurred voice, "On the contrary. You monsters can eat my flesh, but you can't take my spirit, and it angers you all, doesn't it?"

The tiny warrior charged one final time as his foes closed in, to die a worthy death as a free living being.

* * * * *

"Are we there yet?" Cynn asked between labored huffs of breath.

"No." Vekk replied. "Not much further though."

Bhu'khahuh's forces had not caught up to them, and still were not in sight whenever any of them could spare a glance… however, that would likely soon change. Report from the remaining Forgotten of Atal Ra had reached Vekk that the First Elite Defense Krewe had finally fallen, and so there was no telling how long it would be before the villains would make up the distance.

The Forgotten had declined to join the retreat, not wanting to mingle with either the humans or the Charr. Those few ancient beings had decided their time had come, and would offer one final bit of resistance for the fleeing population… not that they imagined it would be all that much.

Aidan was already plotting their strategy. Now that they were in the tunnel approaching the surface, it would allow his allies to delay their foes more easily and for a longer period of time, hopefully long enough to allow Vekk and the Asura with him to finish pushing the weapon past the blast doors and beyond.

"The invading force has reached the Academy proper." Vekk's communications unit declared. "All still living personnel are reported to be in the tunnels; awaiting clearance to initiate blast door closing sequence."

The blast doors were actually three separate doors with layers of insulating gel that would fill between them and allow the doors to withstand any potential shockwave or fallout from the A.T.O.M. bomb detonation. The process took some time to complete, and so it needed to be started early in order for it to finish in time.

Vekk freed one hand from pushing in order to grab the communicator. "Any report on Headmaster Coran or Ascalon Captain Devona?"

"Negative, Vekk." Was the reply. "However, if they are among the last to retreat into the tunnel, we haven't been able to get any confirmations of any specific individuals due to the panic."

"Understood. Has Acting Headmaster Ouda given clearance to begin the closing sequence?"

"No."

Vekk took a deep breath before saying, "Then I am. Begin blast door closing sequence."

"Affirmative, initiating sequence… 25 minutes until blast doors are closed."

Vekk hooked the communicator back to his belt, as Aidan asked, "Is that going to be enough time?"

The Asura didn't offer much confidence, "I'm estimating that's about how long it will take a largely unfettered, advancing inhuman army to reach the blast doors from the Academy."

"I see." The ranger replied then making the orders to the rest of his team. "We have fifteen minutes, then we're breaking off to provide cover."

"What about me?" Gwen asked. "I can help."

"We can't take too many people or the weapon won't make it before we run out of time." Aidan declined.

Even as it was, they did not have terribly good speed. Asura were passing them in their flight rather quickly, the beings growing increasingly panicked in their flight… suggesting Bhu'kahhuh's minions weren't too far off.

The pushing group managed to enlist some of the more sane in the retreat to lend what strength they could, but it was still rather slow going to move that sort of weight up against the pull of gravity.

Five minutes later, it was clear they were at the back of the line… none had passed them for some time, most notably not a human pair dressed as a paragon and a warrior. Aidan had little doubt the next sounds they would soon hear would be the hissing and unholy howls of evil incarnate from behind them.

"Mhenlo, Cynn, Eve, Yue… get ready." Aidan declared grimly. "Break off on my mark."

And then, a voice they didn't expect to hear interjected, his voice barely audible from the strain in his words. "Now, now… I don't think that will be necessary."

In their shock, the progression momentarily stopped… although that pause did allow Devona and Coran to catch up. The warrior gestured to Mhenlo, and said, "He's been poisoned… see what you can do while I take your place."

Which she did; the warrior's strength providing a noticeable difference in their speed up the incline, joined a half second later by Coran and Mhenlo, the former sufficiently purged of the Seer's poisonous touch.

"We have about ten minutes before the blast doors close, I'm guessing?" Coran asked, confirmed by Vekk's nod. "That should be plenty of time."

"What about the beasts coming from behind?" Aidan asked in curiosity.

"Oh… I have one more surprise waiting for them." The headmaster said with a smug grin. "In fact, they should be receiving said surprise right… about… now."

Then the tunnel behind them was filled with the roar of explosives, joined shortly after by the howls and hisses of beasts and monsters. "As Devona and I were pulling back, I happened to notice an unused weapons cache from when the Academy was flushing out the remaining Destroyers. Seemed rather wasteful to leave and not use them."

"However, that's not going to be anything more than a small delay, because Coran obviously didn't want to collapse the tunnel entirely." Devona replied. "Hopefully it will make them move forward more slowly."

Instead, the explosion seemed to serve to stop the advancing foes, as silence ruled the rest of the party's progress. Devona really wasn't terribly shocked by this development… Bhu'khahuh figured it had already won. Why not let the "food" struggle hopelessly for a little while longer?

Soon, came the literal light at the end of the tunnel… and without much time to spare. The group barely fit the A.T.O.M bomb through the closing doors which closed with a thud, then a hiss.

"Do you honestly think this will hold the father of the gods?" Aidan asked disbelievingly.

"Of course not." Coran retorted. "But these were made to withstand destructive power incomprehensible by current mortal understanding. They should hold long enough for our purpose. Vekk, what will you need to make the modifications?"

"Not much." The Asuran engineer said. "I designed the unit specifically in the off-chance that this might happen. The only great concern is that the additional Agroium fuel is still below."

"One problem at a time, Vekk." Coran said, holding up his hand, his attention turned towards the north. The Ascalon standard had appeared, bearing royal trim; and there was no telling how their presence would be received by the increasingly demented King Adelbern.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter Fifty-One**

Astonishingly, all was calm in Ascalon. King Adelbern had arrived with arms wide open, welcoming back his son, and assisting as best as he could with settling the refugees of the now overwhelmed Atal Ra.

Even now, Devona had been granted a room within the "palace" in Ascalon City, part of a suite, with Coran's room on the other side with just a flimsy sliding door between them. The king himself had explicitly pointed out that fact with a gentle nudge to her side and a wink. Not that the old king knew that Devona and Coran had already been doing exactly that for some time; nor would he have likely figured it out from the deep, embarrassed blush that colored the warrior near scarlet.

Hadn't it just been less than a week when her guildmates reported that Adelbern was furious with Coran and herself? That he was certain of an impending Charr attack? What had happened to the real Adelbern? Grenth take it… which one was the real Adelbern to begin with?

Maybe Coran was right… perhaps the old king's mind really _was_ going.

At that point, she heard talking from Coran's room… which surprised her, as the second voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slid open the partition as they were apparently finishing their conversation.

"Thank you, Japphe." Coran said, taking something she couldn't clearly see, and sliding it into a pouch at his belt. "I'm amazed any of the cultures survived."

"Yes, well, I do good work… you should know that, after all, I taught you." The Medical Krewe Chief answered smugly. "It's been weakened enough that it should do the trick without having the potential to… oh!"

Japphe had finally caught onto Devona's presence, and he suddenly clammed up in a very suspicious and guilty fashion. "Well, I suspect your… betrothed wishes to speak to you, so I suppose I shall make my leave. Good day, headmaster."

The Medical Krewe Chief couldn't get out of the room fast enough, and it prompted Devona to ask, "What was _that_ all about?"

Coran regarded her cautiously. "The less you know; the better."

Devona's eyes narrowed accusingly. "What… is in that thing Japphe gave you?"

"Again, the less you know; the better."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the best you are going to receive."

Devona wanted to press the issue when another interruption imposed itself. This time it was a royal attendant, a girl barely out of her teenage years, from Devona's reckoning.

"Your highness? Your father is ready to see you."

"Thank you. Inform him I shall be on my way shortly." Coran replied then said to Devona, "We'll talk later."

"Oh, we will, because I am coming with you." Devona snarled, looping her arm in his quite forcefully. "And don't think for one moment I won't break your legs in the hall so you can't run after this meeting with your father is done."

She glared at him in challenge the entire way down the hall to the King's Chambers, and even into the chambers itself, giving King Adelbern disrespectfully little acknowledgement when they were announced.

Yet the old king didn't seem taken aback, even cheerfully noted, "She has eyes for nothing but you, my son… Mordekai would be so glad to see how well you two have bonded."

Devona finally broke eye contact from Coran to give Adelbern a fake grin. "I'm sure he would. My relationship with Coran is wonderful. He trusts me with everything, don't you, love?"

She jabbed him in the side discretely with an elbow, and continued with saccharine sweetness, "There is nothing hidden in our relationship. No secrets… he doesn't try to hide anything from me, do you, my darling?"

Another jab to his side prompted Coran to smile and with gritted teeth reply, "Absolutely, Devona. How could I possibly hide anything from you?"

Adelbern laughed, interrupting the pair's thinly veiled argument. "Oh, please stop… the sweetness will rot my teeth! Besides, I suspect there is business that is in urgent need of discussing."

The king gestured towards the plush velvet chairs forming a circle in the center of his chambers. Devona reluctantly broke her hold on Coran in order to sit down, giving him yet another scathing glare that promised pain if he so much as thought of eluding her after the meeting was done.

"So, my son… while I gathered some details as to your sudden abandonment of the Atal Ra city and academy, I have to admit what I gathered was rather jumbled and I am not entire certain of the sequence of events or the threat whatever it is poses."

Coran's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I'm not sure how. Devona's guild directly reported the nature and imminence of this threat to you several weeks ago."

Adelbern's eyes crossed in confusion. "They did? Are you sure about this? Perhaps they didn't report to me? I'm certain I would remember such a report."

Devona knew that couldn't have been true; and almost spoke up in defense of her guildmates, but couldn't quite work up the courage to try and correct the king. Besides, it was far more important that he was listening _now_.

The old monarch shrugged, "They very well might have, I suppose. My memory isn't what it used to be, and I've been so concerned with the threat of the Charr… but, I suppose that will have to stand in reserve for the time being, won't it?"

"Indeed. The forces of Bhu'kahhuh cannot be contained for very long… and our window to defeat this foe is very short. If the demonic army breaks out of the cavern, I'm not sure any force on Tyria could stop it." Coran explained.

"How long do we have?"

The younger royal shook his head. "That, I am not sure, which makes it all the more imperative that we complete preparations and make our move as quickly as possible."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Of course I do, father… obviously, the best case would not have involved launching a counter-offensive from Ascalon, but I prepared for this scenario."

The king leaned back, his features stern. "Your presumption of Ascalonian aid is quite brash, considering the strained relations you and I have."

Coran was undaunted by the sudden shift in demeanor. "Any issues between the two of us I assumed could be put aside in a time where not just Ascalon, but the whole of the world, is in great peril. Despite our disagreements, you have been a good and wise ruler, decisive in action when necessary. Such necessity is now."

"Perhaps if your Asuran friends hadn't dug so deep into the earth…"

"Had it not been the Asurans, it would have been the Charr Shamans and the Seers." Devona finally interjected, surprising herself by her nerve. "This beast is coming, and was determined to do so regardless of any mortal action."

Adelbern's eyebrows lifted as he neutrally regarded Devona. "The captain speaks out of turn."

"She is right nonetheless." Coran said in mild rebuke. But his tone subtly softened, and he slowly stood. "However, bickering about who is responsible for what won't solve anything. Perhaps a drink to calm our senses is in order."

The king clapped once, and said, "Oh, indeed! My attendant had just brought some tea in nary a few minutes ago. It should still be warm."

"Brilliant, I shall acquire it immediately." The prince declared, and took five steps to the table in which the kettle and cups currently resided. Once there, Devona watched him reaching into the pouch on his belt, and remove the small vial of what she now could tell was white powder.

"The Asura have developed a new kind of sweetener, it supposedly enhances the strength of normal sugar." Coran explained. "Devona and I aren't terribly fond of it, but perhaps it might suit your palate, father."

"Oh? Well, I am more than willing to try something new at least once." Adelbern accepted. With that permission, Coran popped the cork from the vial, and started to pour the contents into the king's cup.

"Actually, Coran… I would love to try it again." Devona said, leaning into the back of her chair, "I don't think I was prepared for the flavor the last time."

Coran and Devona locked eyes, challenging one another silently. The warrior knew damned well whatever in that vial wasn't any sweetener, and wasn't going to let it be fed to the king until she knew _exactly_ what it was.

Then, to her shock, Coran looked away and did indeed pour the remaining half into Devona's cup, added the sugar, then the tea, and stirred them all together dutifully. "Well, the difference probably won't be quite as profound this way… but perhaps that's a good thing."

He returned to the center of the chambers, handed the king his cup, then held out the other "seasoned" tea to Devona, who for a moment, remained aghast that her betrothed had called her bluff.

"Well, my dear? Are you going to take it?" Coran asked.

"Yes, do, child! It is quite wonderful!" Adelbern chirped, droplets of tea already dribbling down his beard.

Finally, Devona took the cup, and started slowly sipping the beverage… confusion warring with her mind. Had she been wrong? Coran wouldn't willingly hurt her…

…

Would he?


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter Fifty-Two**

"I... don't want... Coran... looking at me." Devona insisted.

"Devona... you're sick. You should at least have Coran examine you." Cynn replied, tucking the covers back in place where the warrior had dislodged them in her protests.

Devona wasn't terribly sure how to explain that she knew damn well why she was sick, and how Coran was directly responsible for that, without telling the whole story; a whole story she wasn't comfortable telling because she wasn't even sure _she_ knew the whole story.

"Cynn, while I appreciate your efforts, I can comfortably say I am aware of my bethrothed's condition. Her coughing and hacking and sneezing were quite audible on my side of the suite."

The elementalist's head jerked up to see that Coran had appeared at the doorway joining the rooms of the suite, his arm resting on the frame as he added. "Now, unless you wish to risk taking ill yourself, I would recommend taking your leave. I will see to a proper diagnosis of my beloved Devona."

Cynn nodded silently, and made her retreat, confident that Coran would tend to the warrior as best as he was able.

Devona, however, wasn't too certain of that.

"Get away from me, you fiend." The warrior grumbled bitterly, coughing from just that slight amount of speech.

The headmaster of Atal Ra did not obey her request, putting his hand on her forehead to test her fever. "You only have yourself to blame. I told you not to get involved."

"You poisoned your father! And _me_!" Devona then groaned as she felt the force of her attempted shout painfully chafe her sore throat.

"Oh, do not be a dramatic." Coran said with a roll of his eyes. "I did no such thing." He then pulled away his hand, and felt her tender throat. "Good grief, to hear you talk, I'd think you were on death's door. You're an active, healthy woman of remarkable constitution. You will be fine, perhaps by as soon as tomorrow morning."

"And the king?" She demanded.

"Not nearly in his peak condition or prime years, but he will recover as well. Grenth take you, if I wanted my father dead, there are hundreds of other, cleaner, and less detectable ways to go about it."

"Then... what... was that stuff you put in our drinks?"

Coran exhaled. "Devona..."

"Do not tell me, 'the less you know the better.' I _will_ get out of this bed and beat it out of you if I have to."

"While I have no intention of committing regicide, I fear if knowledge of my actions were to become known, my father won't exactly see the distinctions. I'd rather not make you an accessory to that potential crime among nobility."

"I think it's a little late for that." Devona said, then hacked a clump of phlegm in the back of her throat unpleasantly. "I want to know what you did to me, and I want to know _now_."

"It was a modified and weakened form of the viral infection my father suffered when I first returned to Ascalon. It's different enough to make him ill, but similar enough that the antibodies from the first infection will adapt rather swiftly."

"But... why?"

"The purpose wasn't to kill my father... merely to render him unable to rule for the next few days while I enact the rest of the plan to end Bhu'khahuh. I will need the full might of the Ascalon military in order to have the manpower necessary to push this front back into the Atal Ra cavern."

Devona boggled. "But... King Adelbern agreed to lend all the support we needed! Why...?"

"Oh certainly, he agrees right _now_..." Coran huffed, "But what about two days from now when his mind shifts again? What happens when he suddenly sees a Charr's shadow in the streets of Ascalon City? What happens when he turns his eyes to the north again?"

Coran knelt before Devona, and took her hand in his. "No, my love... I cannot assume my father will remain lucid and rational. There is too much at stake. Surely you understand."

Again, the warrior did not particularly like this sort of talk about Adelbern... even when she left Ascalon to help the pilgrimage to Kryta, and remembered the angry words the old king spoke in parting to those that left, she had thought highly of the man. Truly noble and honorable, if misguided.

But... Coran was also right. There was already enough that could go wrong on this most recent, and probably desperate attempt, to save the world this time around. She had heard reports of Adelbern's varying temperment, and had seen the drastic shift in moods and thought personally.

"I do now... it would have been nicer to be able to understand that yesterday evening."

"As I said... I didn't want to potentially make you an accessory to a crime against the King."

Devona sighed, and answered, "Coran, we are a team. Even if I cringed every time you talked about supplanting your father, by force if necessary, I support you, and will continue to support you; even if it means I am accused of treason to the crown. I don't need protecting. We either both succeed, or neither of us do."

"I'll try to remember that in the future."

A knock on the door grabbed their attention, and they both stiffened guiltily like a pair of children caught being naughty. "Captain Devona? Is the prince in there?" Duke Barradin asked from across the closed door.

Coran nodded to her, and put a hand down in silent request to let him handle it. "I am, Duke. I shall be there shortly."

He crossed the suite room to the door, and opened it halfway. "I am sorry, Barradin, but Devona is not well. Nothing serious, mind you, but I'd rather not potentially spread the contagion she has acquired."

"I came to inform you that the King himself has also come down with illness... I assume the Asurans tending to him know of this?"

Coran nodded, "I am well aware of my father's condition, and yes, Japphe and the Medical Krewe are aware of that fact. They are the best physicians you will find across the width and breadth of this continent. Rest assured the king is in the best possible hands. For what it's worth, the sickness is not particularly virulent, nor is it life-threatening."

Barradin released a nervous breath. "I am glad to hear that. However, with the king bed-ridden, by the laws of succession, you are aware that you are now the acting king until he can safely return to the throne, correct?"

"I am painfully aware, Barradin." Coran answered grimly. "I have said nothing on that score because there is no reason to change the plans my father and I composed the last evening. Proceed with those orders as laid out. If it is absolutely necessary, I will hold court this afternoon after the mid-day meal."

"Very well... your highness. I shall inform the other nobles of your intentions if you desire."

Coran frowned at the use of the title, but didn't press the issue; at least this time he actually _was_serving in those duties. "Yes, you do that. Good day, Duke."

He closed the door, and returned to his betrothed's side. "Looks like I have nobleman's work to do. Delightful, isn't it? You do realize, as my future wife, it certainly wouldn't be untoward to join me as I hold court..."

Devona coughed, although these were rather blatantly fake. "Oh, my dear, you know I would love nothing more than to sit at your side as you handle trivial concerns and worries from every minor duke and lord that thinks they have a grievance... but I fear I am simply too ill to attend. Surely you understand."

"Of course." Coran replied, bending down to kiss her forehead. "You really are quite warm. I think I might have to interrogate Japphe on exactly what he did to that virus. He is an Asura after all..."


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter Fifty-Three**

It didn't matter that Devona didn't have any idea what she was doing. It helped to know that she was there, and was going to be at his side, no matter what.

So, he wasn't particularly bothered when she screwed up preparing his cape so badly that the attendant had to nervously wedge himself into the procedure to fix the mistakes Devona had made. The warrior stepped away, arms up in submission and with a broad smile. "Alright, I yield."

Coran laughed at this, prompting the attendant to mutter nervously, "Your highness, please don't move."

It was then Devona's turn to laugh as Coran silenced himself and held his breath, perhaps unnecessarily so, as his regalia was finally set to rights. "Are you ready to address your people, majesty?" She asked teasingly.

"I notice you aren't wearing your tiara." Coran replied, and the attendant, having just finished the prince's cape, turned about aghast.

"Madam!" He admonished, "It is bad enough you insist on wearing that filthy armor instead of the fine dress your attendants set out for you, but the queen in waiting should at least wear her tiara in support of her betrothed!"

Devona boggled... she honestly wasn't expected to wear that gaudy, ridiculously ornate silver circlet... was she?

"Yes, my dear... surely you support me?" Coran asked in humor, knowing without looking that his beloved was flushing brightly in embarrassment.

This was _not_ what Devona had anticipated, but once King Adelbern had proudly declared the betrothal of the warrior and the prince, she had become entrenched in this "society", and she did not particularly like it; a discomfort Coran exploited for his entertainment far more often than she felt he rightfully should.

And if it wasn't him, it was Yue.

"Yes, Madam Devona, it is only right." The assassin taunted, putting undue stress on the title she had been given by the noble houses, likely to be replaced with "princess" or even (to Devona's horror) "queen" once Coran eventually succeeded his father.

"Don't encourage them... traitor." Devona hissed.

On one hand, her relationship with Yue had improved considerably since they had retreated to Ascalon; as witnessing what Devona was going through had caused the assassin to rethink her infatuation with Coran. Better Devona than her, Yue had figured.

Yue's treason went even further than encouragement, as in the assassin's outstretched hands rested the wrought silver tiara, sparking with polish, intricate etching, and encrusted with diamonds and sapphires. Devona sighed, and reluctantly removed her sun headband. It was the sole piece of unnecessary adornment the warrior had ever worn, a gift from her father long ago that her mother arranged to have re-sized several times until Devona reached her full growth.

Coran sensed Devona's reluctance, and knew the sentiment involved. "Devona, I was just teasing. You don't have to..."

At that point, the warrior had garnered the courage. "No... they're right. I can't remained ashamed... of any potential station. I promised I'd be by your side, and if that means I wear this... thing... then so be it."

Devona exchanged the head wear with Yue, and said as solemnly as possible. "That headband means a great deal to me. I expect you will treat it with the utmost care."

Yue's features turned equally serious. "Of course, Devona."

With one final deep breath, Devona placed the tiara on her head, the circlet nestling with surprising comfort just above her temple. She then bobbed her hair to free it from underneath the circlet much in the manner her headband once did. Regarding herself in the mirror, she figured it didn't look _that_gaudy.

"Well, love... shall we now address the army that will fight for you in this coming dark time?" Devona asked.

* * * * *

Devona's friends and allies were waiting at the front of the assembly, resolved to stand by Devona, showing to her the solidarity that she was showing to Coran... although it wouldn't be her guild to let this moment go without some more jokes at her expense.

"Nice crown, your..." Cynn began.

"Shut up." Devona grumbled in interruption, her eyes narrowed in warning.

That prompted the elementalist to giggle, and even Aidan gave an amused snort until Devona silenced him with a glare. Further warning mercifully proved unnecessary as Coran tapped his spear against the wooden stage they were standing on to signal the attention of all present.

"My people... no, my friends." Coran began, his voice taking a pleasant tone before becoming grave. "I will not lie to you... we face a great, numerous, and mighty foe. There is no telling the true end to the infernal host we are about to face, and at the end, we face a being of such great power that even the gods call it 'father.' I tell you this because I do not wish for you to go blindly into what may be our last great day on this mortal coil."

"I also do not want you to fear when you first see what I and our Asuran allies have already seen, for fear is this beast's primary weapon. It's what it uses to turn our swords aside, what it wields to drop our shields and our defenses. It is the very essence of fear and insanity that awaits us, and we cannot go without infinite courage and determination, else we will fail."

"But I believe that courage and that will still exists, for without it, you and your fellow Ascalonians could not have survived even one seven-day on this broken land you all call home. No matter what it has become, it is still your home."

"Remember what you love of this land. Think on everyone you care for, recall everything that makes your life worth living. Let them be your shield as you walk into the den of madness; for if you lose that will, if we lose this day, all of it will the cost of our failure. Everything you hold dear, and in fact, everything in this world, will be lost."

"This may very well be humanity's last gasp, our final breath. If that is so, I say we let that breath come fighting!" Coran exclaimed, his voice turning bold and powerful. "I say we let this 'father of the gods' know that the strength of humankind has not waned, that its 'food' will not come without a tragically steep price. Let us use its own weapon against it, and let _it_ be the one who fears the coming of man. For Ascalon and for the Wall!"

In conclusion, Coran thrust his spear to the sky, and what prompted the eruption that stirred Devona's soul. If this truly was their last battle, she could soar to the Mists knowing she and her fellow countrymen did not go timidly.

All in all, Devona found Coran's address inspiring, although she could have been greatly biased in that regard. But judging from the roar from the Ascalon army, their blades in the air, she suspected that wasn't the case.

Their enthusiasm was so loud that it initally drowned out the sound of blaring trumpets until they issued a second time. To the west, three distinct lines of figures had marched into view, shrouded by the setting sun, bringing numbers that astonished even Coran... lines of regiments that took several minutes to completely come into sight at be counted.

The leftmost contingent were Asura, the force that Rata Sum had promised to stir to assist their brothers and sisters of Atal Ra. But it was the armies to the center and right, both human, that no one had been expecting... although clearly Devona and her guild recognized the presence.

The human lines split to eventually allow two men to emerge to the fore, and prompted Devona and Mhenlo to dash out to meet them.

"General Morgahn!"

"Emperor Kisu!"

Both men began to speak at the same time, prompting the old Kournan paragon to cede the floor to the Canthan emperor. "Mhenlo, my friends and brothers of Tyria, allow me these words. It has been a long march, even with the aid of these Asura and their technology. Yet even then, I ask that his majesty allow my forces the honor of fighting by your side. It was heroes of Tyria that helped turned the tide against Shiro Tagachi, and allowed Cantha to experience a relative peace. It is a debt that I must repay, as you again face dire odds."

Nodding in deference to Morgahn, the emperor stepped back, and allowed the aged Kournan to speak. "Once before, Elona faced its Nightfall. Without the aid of heroes from this land, such as the ones before me, my land, my friends, and my people would have been lost. As Emperor Kisu said, it is a debt of honor I humbly request we have the chance to repay. The Sunspears will not suffer any darkness to plague the lands of men... you have our blades, our magic, and our wills in this great battle."

Finally, Mamp, leader of the Asuran council, prepared to speak, but then turned and after a moments thought, gestured for another to take his place. This Asura, still clad in the bloodstained armor from the first battle of Atal Ra surprised even Coran with the strength of his voice.

"I am Hamm, of the First Elite Defense Krewe of Atal Ra. This monster that wakens beneath this ground has struck at all of us. It was my city it razed, it was my people it slaughtered. Today, I ask we fight as one, for as our foe clearly thinks little of our differences, at least for one day, we should do the same. My brothers... they paid the ultimate price to preserve as many lives as they could. I would honor their memory by washing my armor with the blood of the beasts who attacked us."

Hamm approached the stage, and then crawled on top of it, shrugging away an attempt to assist by a member of the Ascalon army. He then dropped to one knee in front of Coran and asked, "May I... may _we_ bear the honor of doing so, your highness?"

With a smile, Coran motioned for Hamm to rise, and said, "I would be foolish and callous to deny the aid of people who are bound by honor or blood to come on this day. Of course, I accept, and it makes our might and our message all the stronger. Tomorrow morning, Bhu'kahuh will feel the sting of the great dragon it is trying to devour."

Coran then assessed the assembled forces once again, and began to feel the hope that he had instilled in the people in front of him. Perhaps, they did indeed have a chance... provided Grazz and Pyre had the same luck in mustering the Charr...

* * * * *

From above the scene, leaning inconspicuously against the railing on a balcony from the temporary palace, completely against the orders of his "doctors", Adelbern watched the scene, pride swelling in the old king's heart. He had clearly been wrong nearly a decade ago... his youngest son had demonstrated everything Adelbern had hoped his children would show. Perhaps... it was time Ascalon had it's next king.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty-Four**

The Burntfang Rise, once the sacred grounds of the Shamans, lay to the south of Grothmar Wardowns and west of the Sacnoth Valley, overlooking the Plains of Golghein. It was chosen as the capital of the Shaman Caste due to his relative high ground, rising above even the Dalada Uplands, the top of the plateau giving a clear view of the surrounding lands all the way to the Great Northern wall to the south and the World's Edge Mountains to the north. It was there that the Shamans centered their power for the longest time, and where Pyre had summoned the collective warbands of the Charr to meet and address the foe that rested deep underneath the world.

Pyre declared that getting the Charr together in one place would likely be harder than convincing them to fight. Grazz wasn't quite so sure. The warbands never exactly held a spirit of cooperation, its why the humans were able to force the Charr from their ancestral lands, and why the shamans had such success overwhelming any pockets of resistance to their rule.

To complicate matters, Grazz sensed if the Charr were going to fight anyone, it was going to be the "invaders" that appeared on their lands in the last hour, making camp at the base of the rise; and Grazz supposed there was good reason to be uneasy. To be fair, the camps chose that position likely due to the abundance of water at the foot of the rise, and the fact that the cavern leading to Atal Ra was a casual stroll away on the plain.

The Norn were never one to move in immensely large groups... they resembled the Charr in that sense. Even during the final offensive on the Great Destroyer, the Norn sent all of four to battle. There was a few more than four this time.

Pyre motioned for Grazz to follow him as he addressed the Norn "army" that arrived at the meeting grounds. "Jora... I am curious how you mustered such... support... in such a short time." The Charr chieftain muttered warily.

His counterpart smiled with a hint of something that didn't exactly translate into good cheer. "The Asura have been spreading the word of this coming battle with a zeal my people can relate to. My brothers and sisters heard the stories of the hunt of the Destroyers, and they were determined not to miss this one."

"And so four became... four thousand?" Pyre said dubiously. Grazz figured he was estimating badly, but be it one thousand or four, that was still an awfully large concentration of Norn all in one place.

"Never underestimate the enthusiasm of a Norn when presented with the promise of an epic hunt."

Pyre grunted, not wanting to contest that statement. "You're making my kin anxious... so until I get them on board with this grand invasion, I would ask you try and keep your enthusiasm down."

Of course, the Norn were merely the second greatest distraction to Pyre's attempts. The first was roughly two hundred yards to the south, set up in their tents and with a fairly significant defensive perimeter. At the center of the Ebon Vanguard camp was Captain Langmar and her lieutenants. The defensive circle parted barely and reluctantly for Pyre and Grazz to enter and question the officer that led the human regiment.

"Chieftain Pyre Fierceshot." Langmar said with a hint of distaste. "What brings you here?"

"I was about to ask the same of you. This is our land you tread on, and depending on your answer, it will be your grave." Pyre threatened. He was very familiar with the Ebon Vanguard's guerrilla tactics. He wasn't going to assume any intentions until he heard them from Langmar's mouth... and even then he planned to watch her and her forces closely until he saw them addressing the old god's forces.

"We are here to aid our land and king. As we were informed, this was the most accessible point in which to do that. Unless you want us marching across the entire length of 'Charr land' to reach the Great Northern Wall and beyond." Langmar replied acidly. "We will fight for our king, and defend the land we love, even if we have to fight through every damn Charr on the Plain."

The ferocious determination in Langmar's voice and face reminded Grazz of a Charr, and even Pyre took a step back before he could force himself to hold his ground. With a growl of frustration at himself, he snarled, "Very well, but I'll be watching you, meat."

"Same, you dirty kitten."

The pair eyed each other angrily before Pyre spun about and again motioned for Grazz to follow. "Alright... now we assuage our brethren, and rally them to fight." He noted, more to himself. "Would you like to speak or should I?"

Grazz gave Pyre a nasty glare, and the Fierce clan chief laughed. "Oh, come on. I couldn't help myself."

As Grazz had feared, the warbands were distracted by the presence of the Norn and Ebon Vanguard, and were much more eager to assemble to massacre the invaders than form any momentary alliance. Charr's appeals that Bhu'kahuh was by far the greater threat largely fell on deaf ears.

"The gods are the human's problem. Why does it concern us?" One chief asked.

"Let the humans die by their own masters!" Another bellowed. "And let us kill the rest!"

"This god views us all living beings as 'food', even us." Pyre explained, his frustration growing. "If it is not stopped now, it will next turn its eyes on us."

"Then we will destroy it!" The first chief howled. "We fear no god!"

Pyre's irritation was clouding his mind, making it ever harder for him to properly make the right message to sway his brethren. Grazz stared at his pouch. Coran had given him an item upon their reunion after the great quakes... he didn't like it much, and in fact refused its use. But... someone had to speak if there was any hope of salvaging this summit.

Pyre was just about to issue a scathing retort when a metallic, hissing voice spoke over him. "You fear no god, yet you suggest we hide in our dens waiting for the old beast to emerge from its meager prison."

Pyre jumped, his hand moving to the bow on his back as he spun, and discovered the sound to have originated from Grazz. The former, wounded Shaman had attached a silvery box to his throat, a cord extending from said box to a plunger button in his hand. The button seemed to be the trigger that gave the normally mute Charr a voice.

"So, this is the greatness of the Charr. This is our power." Grazz chided. "A group of cowards. And you wonder why the Shamans seized control from you like they were stealing meat from a cub."

Instantly the warband chieftains jumped to their feet in anger. "Bold words from a shaman! I should cut you down where you stand!"

"Oh, _now_ you're brave." Grazz nearly taunted. "Look below us. Norn and Humans are ready to fight this foe. Is this how you want to be represented? Is this the stain to your name you want to carry?"

Anger dissolved into confusion. "What are you saying, Shaman?"

Grazz grinned. "What would it say if humans and Norn would battle an enemy that we wouldn't? What would it tell them if we stayed behind while they marched to battle? Do we want them to think they are more courageous? Do we want the honor of the Charr sullied in such a manner? Would you honestly accept that humans will march where Charr dare not?"

"No one challenges my courage, Shaman!"

The other chieftains roared in challenge.

"Then prove your courage, chief. Face the god of insanity that lies below." Grazz explained. "As it stands, the Ebon Vanguard already laughs at us for taking this long to issue our call to war."

The chieftains grew silent, mulling over Grazz's contention, and he turned to the masses of Charr below. "My fellow Charr, I come to you not as a servant to a human, not as a Shaman, but as a Charr. I come from human and Asuran lands not to convert or betray our people, but to bring us knowledge and learning and the ways to reclaim what was taken from us! My heart and my efforts have always been for the advancement of our kind, so that we could take back what was lost, so that we could reassert our superiority on what rightfully is ours!"

"So listen well to the tale I tell, as it comes from one that wants what is best for the Charr. Deep below us, the father of the human gods stirs. To him, we all are mere morsels to feed his appetite. He knows not the power he seeks to consume. He is a blind, idiot god, and we have the rare opportunity to teach him a lesson about the thorns that will soon break his teeth. Before us is an opportunity to deliver a message that will make even the gods of men cower! This is our chance to deliver due notice that no god can bow our knee, no power can break our will and courage, no force can quench the fires of our rage!"

"My fellows, tomorrow, we can issue a roar that makes gods tremble!" Grazz declared in closing, "Let them fear the fury of the Charr!"

Pyre chortled. That Flamemane was always full of surprises, wasn't he? But there was little doubting that he had stirred the right result... as the setting sun gave way to what could be the last night of Tyria, the flames of torches thrust in the air lighting the summit of Burntfang rise summarized the days events. The combined hordes of the Charr had been rallied, and if only for a short while, they were unified in their cause. Along with the Norn and Ebon Vanguard alone, Pyre wondered if Coran would be able to muster a force even _half_ the size of what would be coming from the northern tunnel.

He of course had no idea that the armies of two other continents had joined the fight on the human's side, and could not possibly comprehend the scale of the battle that was to come. All of Tyria, Elona, and Cantha would be stirred the next day. Bhu'kahuh would truly face the best blow of all mortal born.

The only question that remained was would it be enough.


	55. Chapter 55

_Author's Note: This is pretty much blatant fanservice, I won't lie. There's some story to it, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that at its core this chapter isn't much more than a rather tawdry attempt at joviality and a bit of testosterone laden fun. I will return you all to the dark upcoming battle in the next chapter._

_Until then, enjoy if so desire._

_P.S. No, I'm not sorry._

_P.S.S. As should be obvious at this point, the content in this story is fairly dated... although it is rather amusing that I finally get to posting this here as the Hearts of the North content reaches its conclusion. I hope you enjoy it anyway._

**Chapter Fifty-Five**

Why did she agree to this?

Right... because Devona gave her no choice. It was not easy to say "no" to a woman who could break you into tiny pieces if she put her mind to it. Besides, she had to admit it hadn't taken much coersion. She had always hoped to witness a royal wedding... held fanciful dreams of being the flower bearer when she was little... and here she was with the opportunity to be a maid to the bride. Oh yeah, that had been a _real_ tough sell.

And yet... she didn't want to be here, either. It reminded her how lost she was when it came to her emotions. Devona, for example, was a woman she still admired... even if kissing the warrior hadn't exactly been pleasant for either party. Some people told her the first kiss was never all that great. Could she still be in love with another woman?

She had felt strongly for people in the past, and knew others felt strongly for her in turn. Her thoughts turned to her mother, the priest of Green Hills that used to play with her, Devona again, Captain Langmar, the Ebon Vanguard.

If some of the more gossipy members of the Vanguard were to be believed, Lieutenant Thackeray fancied her. Personally, she found him annoying more than anything else... but it had been nice for him to show her that others could and would care for her if given the chance. He was a nice fellow, she supposed... but so... damned... annoying.

Her hand dipped into the satchel hanging off a hook next to her almost involuntarily, like it usually did when she was uncertain and nervous. In there was two of her more precious possessions, a delicately pressed Red Iris Flower, and a tattered piece of a tapestry. She had given both away more than a decade ago when she was young to a pair of adventurers, a man and a woman, thinking she could have friends forever.

Then the Searing had come and taken all her dreams and innocence away... or so she had thought. When last year, roughly about this same time, her "old forever friend" had returned, or at least, the man did. He had informed her that the woman had passed on some time before, fighting against the Undead Lich on the Ring of Fire. He then claimed the gifts Gwen had given him had granted him the strength to survive though adventures that crossed the whole of the world.

The thought that someone could have kept her memory so close for so long had at first startled her, to be replaced eventually by that warm, fuzzy feeling she had back in a more innocent time, when Ascalon was green and her greatest fear was the skale along the river bed. That feeling had soon given away to something else after he put his life on the line to help her close the book on the wounds the Charr had given her, something she had never felt and couldn't explain.

Could _that_ be the feeling Devona was having now, as she blushed and even giggled (yes, the warrior had been _giggling_) while the royal attendants and the other bridesmaids helped her dress in the most lavish, most exquisite, and most beautiful gown of brilliant white Gwen had ever seen.

The gown had supposedly been commissioned by King Adelbern himself almost twenty years ago, and kept pristine all this time in the hopes, no matter how faint or how distant, that the lost prince would return and the warrior princess would be waiting. And with that hope realized, the king had seized the opportunity... deciding the night before the great battle, that the long overdue wedding of Coran and Devona should take place.

King Adelbern had also had much of the planning in place as well, as within hours, the temple was ready, the guests were assembled, all dresses and regalia were ready to be worn (granted with some swift alterations depending on the person). Gwen had just received the dress she'd be wearing from the tailor in fact when she had lost herself in her thoughts.

"Hey! Get dressed!" Yue snapped from the doorway adjoining the suite. "We'd rather like to get this ceremony done before sunrise!"

Gwen nearly jumped. She had almost completely forgotten that she hadn't dressed yet, and instead was clad in her modest black undergarments (as modest as undergarments get at any rate). Regaining her composure, the young mesmer retorted, "Because as you can see, you're ready to go right now."

Yue was also in a similar state of undress, although surprisingly, the assassin's garments were of a much more racy variety, a bright red lace that contrasted remarkably with her almond skin tone.

"I've been helping Devona prepare, not sitting in here admiring myself in the mirror." Was Yue's response.

Gwen was about to respond indignantly, when she noticed that she was indeed standing in front of a full length mirror, and that the sight of herself was what prompted her moment of self-reflection, literally and figuratively. The mesmer smirked teasingly, and replied, "It's not my fault you're jealous that a barely twenty girl has a better figure than a full grown woman like yourself."

Gwen ran her hands from the sides of her breasts to her hips to accentuate the fact, and it had the desired effect; Yue turned visibly flushed, despite her darker skin tone, with embarrassment and anger. "No... you didn't..." She growled, spinning around, and taking one step before turning about again, and approaching Gwen deliberately. "That is it! You've had this coming for a while, you little brat!"

For a moment, Gwen was genuinely afraid that she had went too far, judging from the malicious stride Yue had taken. With eyes promising evil intent, the assassin picked up a pillow from the bed at the side of the room, approached Gwen like a tiger stalking her prey...

Then slapped the memser full in the face with a single swipe of the pillow.

There was silence for a second; Gwen wide-eyed in disbelief while Yue grinned triumphantly. "Oh... oh... that _settles it_, you _old hag_!"

"_Old hag_?" The assassin scowled indignantly, barely finishing the words before her face was filled with pillow.

Gladiators would have been in awe at the ferocity of the combatants trading blows, if scoffing at the choice of weapons. The noise of the tussle eventually drew the attention of Cynn, daintly stepping through in order not to dishevel her very revealing undergarments of ice blue; thong and teddy top. "All right, stop this! Stop this immediately!" The elementalist ordered.

She was brushed back and knocked off her feet by a double-team attack, right to her chest. Jumping quickly to her feet, Cynn snarled and picked up a pair of pillows that had been cast aside earlier in the melee and declared, "You two are going to get it now..." before coming back swinging in dual-wielding rage.

Moments later, Eve, leather bodice and all, joined the fray... really for no reason but to escalate the chaos as far as anyone could tell. Soon, bodies were wrestling and swatting, clambering and sliding off the bed in the desire to be the dominant female.

Then finally, the bride put her foot down. She hadn't been able to get dressed in much more than her bodice by the time the pillow fight had broken up all attention on getting her ready for the wedding. "I will _not_ have my bridesmaids killing each other before my wedding! That is _enough_!"

For several seconds, it seemed like order had been restored, Devona's chest heaving and nostrils flaring in anger, until a flying pillow sailed in a graceful arc from Eve's hand, and smacked Devona flush in the face.

At that point, all hope for order collapsed, and Devona grinned menacingly like a wild Melandru's Stalker. The blushing bride picked up the projectile, and twirled it expertly in her right hand. "Alright... I think some young ladies are due for a spanking..."

Meanwhile, a long figure had finally completed his long, dangerous trek through Charr lands and domains of wild beasts, finally entering the limits of Ascalon City. Lieutenant Keiran Thackeray heaved a sigh of relief that he had made in one piece to deliver a message Captain Langmar deemed important to one of her other lieutenants.

Fortunately, it seemed that the isolationism from Ascalon had dimmed over the last handful of days, considering he was let in and that the guards were answering his questions once he identified himself and where he was from. Such assistance continued as he approached the appropriated "palace" near the center of the city.

"Pardon me, I'm looking for a Lieutenant Gwen of the Ebon Vanguard. I bear word from her superior Captain Langmar."

"She's inside, preparing Madam Devona for the wedding, the second suite on the left once you pass the meeting hall." The left guard declared. "If your message is urgent, I suppose I can let you through."

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Thackeray replied in relief and with a slight bow. "I will not overstay my welcome, I promise you."

He dashed inside, and moved as fast as proper etiquette would allow indoors towards the designated door. He tentatively knocked, and received no answer. He knocked again, slightly more forcefully, and again got no response. Now worried, he put his ear to the door, and fell back in shock when he heard Gwen's distinct voice shrieking in unintelligible protest.

Now determined to come to his friend's aid, he cast aside decency, and thrust open the door, dashing into the room, and eventually into the doorway of the adjoining suite where the sounds of Gwen's distress were originating. "Gwen! Fear not, I am here!"

The sight before him was... complex and bizarre, to say the least. Poor Gwen was stripped down to nothing but her underwear, kicking out ineffectually while bent over the knees of a slight, dark skinned girl in a state of equal undress. She was being held down by a curvy blonde and a leather clad pale skinned woman by her shoulders, and posed behind-up towards one final woman in a bodice of white lace, who had been dutifully smacking the young mesmer's backside with a pillow.

Awkward silence ruled the day as Thackeray's eyes narrowed into tiny dots. His heroic duty dissolved into a blubbering pile of confusion and dirty thoughts, corrected quickly as the women in the room turned their ire onto him.

Soon, all he felt was pain and erotic discomfort; the only sounds being his screams as the amazons descended upon him in righteous fury.

"Good gods, dear man... what happened?" Coran asked as Mhenlo, decked out in his formal gear as the priest overseeing the wedding and vows tended to the mercilessly beaten Vanguard quartermaster. Coran was fairly certain he was one giant bruise by the time he stumbled, discombobulated and disheveled, into the groomsman's suite.

From the entry, Gwen, now dressed in a lovely and elaborate cream gown stared at him angrily, her eyes promising further pain and suffering if he dared finger anyone.

"I... I... was attacked... by the Charr, your majesty."

"In the middle of Ascalon City?" Coran said disbelievingly. "The guards at the palace door claimed you looked fine when you came in."

Thackeray squeaked in horror. "It was dark. I can't imagine they were able to get a good look at me."

Coran obviously didn't believe him, but didn't want to press the issue either. Meanwhile, Gwen disappeared from the doorway, and Thackeray heaved a deep sigh of relief. Coran decided to ignore that, and instead said, "Very well. Mhenlo, I am sorry for delaying you. If you could tidy this young man up, then you can finish your preparations at the temple."

"Oh, no worries. I am ready whenever you are. As I understand the bride is already at her station." Mhenlo noted, satisfied as the dark splotches of internal damage on the young man's face vanished. "I suspect we should probably get this started."

Coran agreed with that sentiment, his groomsmen dressed and in their finery, even Aidan, awash in the bright red formal suit of an Ascalonian nobleman. The tailors had done their best for Vekk, but eventually had to surrender to time constraints, the Asuran genius settling for his finest clothes, reserved normally for scholastic krewe meetings. "I suspect you've just been invited to a wedding, Lieutenant Thackeray. Do try to be on your best behavior." Coran suggested, helping the Vanguard officer to his feet.

"I wouldn't dare be anything but." Thackeray admitted fearfully, as he took his leave out of the palace and towards the temple at the center of the city.

If only for one night, Ascalon had returned to an earlier, more innocent time, where the greatest concerns were who was going to sit where at a momentous social event and what gifts each household had gotten for the newest royal couple. If for only one night, King Adelbern felt like things were as they were before; a time of peace, prosperity, and happiness. If for only one night, the humans of Tyria forgot about the crippling odds against them, and the prospect of oblivion if they were to fail.

If they survived to see the next night, they would probably look back and admit they needed that momentary escape, no matter how fleeting.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Six**

The massive blast doors separating the Atal Ra cavern from the rest of the world were still intact on the Ascalonian's side. Report from Pyre and Grazz reported the same from the Charr homeland side of things. As well, the Asura reported that nothing had tried to rebuild or access the gate that had been established within the cavern.

Whatever was in there, it had not tried to get out. But Coran knew better than to think that Bhu'kahuh and his minions were truly trapped. It knew the mortals were coming, and was waiting for their last desperate strike.

No sense to keep the old god waiting.

"Open the gate." Coran ordered the Asuran manning the console embedded into the rock next to the sealed doors. To the army behind him, he issued, "Be ready for anything... there's no telling what will charge out once the way is clear."

With the groan of metal, the magnetically sealed plates of solid steel yielded, and parted with the clanking of unused gears. Devona, somewhat disappointed in herself, subtly leaned into her new husband as the impenetrable darkness became visible, unbreakable even under the light of morning.

"By the Gods... the blackness that lies within this earth." Morghan muttered in awe. "I can taste the evil from here..."

"It's not evil, General." Coran noted. "It's actually a cold indifference. To Bhu'kahuh, we are but food, it regards us much like you would regard the grazing cattle."

"That is close enough to evil for my sake." The old paragon noted.

Coran really did not have the desire or time to argue philosophy, as with a deep thud, the blast doors pulled open completely... and nothing happened. There was no great army at the gates, no gnashing of teeth or the metallic screech of the Oni, nothing charging through hellbent to consume all creation.

Instead, there was a voice... a gargling reptilian bearlike growling hiss. That was the closest comparsion Coran could make to what crept out from the depths.

"I am the engine of your fear..."

"I am the root of your terror..."

"I am the grasp that rips your fragile world and exposes you to the bleak forsaken truth..."

"Sanity is an illusion..."

"Order... life... method... planning... all but constructs of the feeble mind..."

"There is no god who can save you..."

Another voice, melodic and sweet broke the old god's monologue. "We beg to differ, creature of the black heavens."

Three small balls of light, golden, light blue, and violet flashed into being in front of the human and Asuran army. But instead of the ethereal avatars that Devona and her friends were familiar with, these formed into very physical manifestations, armored and ready for war.

The gods of Tyria walked on its surface for the first time in ages.

"The creep of Bhu'kahuh is already drifting to you." Kormir exclaimed. "His power, even from this distance, we could sense was hooking into your mind."

"Allow us to shield you as much as we can from his manipulations." Dwayna added. "No matter the cost to us, this monster must meet his end."

"And please do it quickly." Lyssa noted in disdain. "I look positively hideous in this armor."

The great old one from the depths began to laugh, at first an amused chuckle before erupting into loud, sinister glee. "So, my dear children come to try and imprison me again? Well come then! Bring your worthless lives, cast them before me! _Kneel to the Lord of Madness!_"

It was fortunate that three of the human gods were present, for the wave of gripping dread that passed over the army would have likely broken all present like shanties before a Cathan typhoon if not for the calming influence of the three.

"It will not get any easier I'm afraid." Kormir warned. "We must move now."

Forcing back the insidious visions of their impending failure with all the will he could muster, Coran was in agreement. "Forward, men and women of Tyria. No matter what, fear and lunacy cannot command this day!"

"Move the golems to the front!" Hamm ordered. "Gunners, take positions behind! Assault Krewes one through four, begin advance! Five through ten, prepare to fill gaps in the phalanx as needed!"

"Sunspears, ready arms! March forward!" Morghan insisted. "Fear no darkness, fight as one, and never fight alone! Dervishes fall behind the warriors, make your rotations swift! Monks and Elementalists stand ready!"

"Nahpui Regiment, take the lead of our formation!" Imperial Guardsman Yang said. "Sunijang Regiment, support all armies as possible. Vizunah Regiment, back up our front lines! Forward!"

The response was not swift, nor was it particularly encouraging. But it was a response, and it was a response of a forward march. The Ascalon Army took the "honor" (if one wanted to call it that) of proceeding first, with the Asurans and Sunspears next, and the Canthan army taking the rear. There would be plenty of foes and fighting, perhaps more than even the entire assembly could withstand, the order which they arrived would likely be irrelevant.

* * * * *

Pyre hadn't needed the issuance of the old god below to tell him that the world had truly gone mad. He had plenty enough evidence right in front of him. Human gods, standing before and shielding the assembled force from the waves of fear and madness radiating from the depths.

"Will wonders never cease..." The chieftain grumbled. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or appreciative of your presence."

One of them, a large, hulking bearded man with a greataxe and eyes seemingly made of fire half turned and said, "If you wish to proceed with a clouded mind into the chaos, you are entitled to do so, but I would recommend this once, you put your pride to the side and take all the help you can to live through this day."

Pyre was pragmatic enough to understand now was not the time to go off on an atheistic rant. "I'll concede to your wisdom... for the moment."

The large human turned back about and grunted. "Truth being, I rather like your kind, Charr. It would be a bit of shame to see your strength, pride, and love of true combat to be snuffed out."

"You die just like any other mortal thing." The somewhat slouched, pale skinned, black armored and shrouded figure to the left mumbled. "Let us work together to ensure that day isn't today."

"Enough prattling." The third, a female clad in what looked like an armor of branches snapped. "Dwayna informs me the other army is on the move. We must proceed as well."

There was a moment's hesistation, as Jora and Pyre locked eyes in challenge. "This is our land, Norn. Fall back."

"A Norn never walks second into battle, Charr." Jora retorted. "You allow true warriors to take the lead and you shall follow."

"The honor is not yours to take, and if you try, the Charr will do part of this Bhu'kahuh's job for him."

Jora prepared to make a retort, but was interrupted by Captain Langmar wedging her way between them forcibly, with her Ebon Vanguard marching dutifully three lengths behind. "By the time the two of you have stopped bickering, the battle will be over. Ebon Vanguard! Forward march!"

Blinking in disbelief, neither Pyre nor Jora even moved, the human regiment flowing around them like rock outcroppings in a river, not even stopping to look back to see if the rest of the assembled force was following. Even the armies left behind were taken aback, so much so they didn't even protest as the humans simply took without debate what was being argued over.

"What... just happened?" Jora asked dumbly.

Grazz's mechanical chuckle then followed, "Humans didn't come this far simply because of divine oversight. They can be as brave and fearless as the mightest of Charr and Norn."

"Indeed." Balthazar agreed, starting his own march forward to keep the Ebon Vanguard shielded from the influence of the old god. "And I suspect if you don't hurry, you'll miss the first exchange."

That stirred the Charr and Norn to action. With the honor of going first no longer an issue, both sides crammed their way into the tunnel, sometimes as many as fifty across wedging their way through in a chaotic, garbled clump of mortality.

Pyre ordered gruffly, "Move it, you weakling kittens! Double time or the humans will never let us hear the end of it. You'll have plenty of time to rest when you're dead!"


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter Fifty-Seven**

The descent to the Atal-Ra chamber was without conflict, not a single drop of blood was spilt, nary a foe from the entrance down to the cavern floor itself. Bravery slowly turned to confusion with each step down into the depths, and confusion slowly turned to concern. From there, concern began to melt into worry and fear, a self descent that the gods escorting them were powerless to stop.

"What is this beast waiting for?" Aidan heard an Ascalon soldier behind him ask.

"For you to lose your mind, like you are doing." The ranger replied quietly. "Stay strong, do not doubt for one moment that you will be in the fight of your life soon enough, and will need every bit of your courage and wit if we are going to be successful."

And then, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel... literally. Atal Ra still stood, its great central tower still generating and casting light throughout the cavern. In fact, it looked like nothing had changed from when they left.

Except for the fact that every square inch of the cavern floor was filled with some manner of gruesome slathering beast of Bhu'kahuh's insane army, of course, packed from tip to tip tightly on every exposed piece of ground.

The sight... of monsters extending as far as any eye could see throughout the entirety of the cavern, anxiously standing at rest... was unsettling to say the least. The staggering number of foes that stood between the allied army and their destination, the munitions testing bay of Atal Ra, was near overwhelming to Coran's mind. There had to be at _least_ one hundred thousand within the cavern alone... and not even the gods likely knew the number of reinforcements that waited deeper still within the den of insanity further below.

And then, the phantom bellow struck again.

_I wanted you to watch as your precious monument to your pathetic civilization was brought to ruins!_

But I suppose something should be done with my brood... they will first learn their place before I reclaim what they took from me!

Even those who weren't magically inclined could feel the surge of raw, unnatural energy in the air as it seemed to suffocate the mystical breath of anyone with such strength. Mhenlo watched as Cynn fell to her knees, eyes glazed in terror, her left hand clutching her throat as if she was being strangled. Other elementalists and arcanists quickly fell victim to the same syndrome, and finally, the gods themselves.

The three divine beings collapsed, clutching their heads and screaming, and soon the painful ring and abrupt sense of loss and emptiness struck the entirety of the human forces. They felt alone even as they stood shoulder to shoulder with their comrades and friends. The protective buffer the gods provided was ripped away like tissue paper, and the mortal army, even the staunches of their kind, buckled. Devona, who felt she was prepared, who had successfully fought the fear, went rigid in fright and hopelessness, her arms dropping dumbly to their sides as the front guard of inhuman beasts began a slow, stalking advance to their helpless prey.

_Forward, feast upon their fear and their flesh! Let them live only long enough to see their precious city burn!_

Yet, in that bleakness, one small flicker of courage stood. Hamm had slowly worked his way to the front of the procession, wedging his smaller frame through the human ranks. His krewe had been the first to face Bhu'kahuh's minions, the first to hold them, even if for a limited time. He alone had been sent to live while his brothers and sisters of the krewe died an honorable death. He was not going to be denied the opportunity to join them.

And he certainly wasn't going to falter where his krewemen did not. They had stared unprotected into the face of this monster, had looked down the gullet into its den, and did not waver. They had fought and they had died as true warriors. He'd be damned before he sullied that noble honor.

And so, the valiant Asuran charged headlong, taking seven strides, planting his feet firmly, and swinging his glaive in an upward, vertical slash; the blow carrying a force that should have been far beyond his tiny frame, splitting the skull of an advancing Oni from chin to temple. As its black blood spouted and the demon collapsed, Hamm's second strike, a descending sweep following the momentum of his first blow, bit halfway through the monster's neck and carried it to the ground in a violent thud.

Breathing heavily with indignant rage and awakened bloodlust, Hamm ripped the weapon out of the Oni's corpse, and imbedded the wooden haft into the ground, marking his kill and daring anyone else to challenge him.

Even the Great Old One itself was stunned to silence, and its influence wavered. In that fleeting moment as it contemplated what should not have happened, it allowed the allied force to regain their wits, as well as steel themselves against future attempts. Mortals were nothing but resilient, having tasted Bhu'kahuh's power once, they would not be gripped by it again, even as the gods themselves were laid lifeless at their feet.

Well... that and the humans weren't about to let an Asuran show them up.

The cavern erupted in a bloodbath, the first wave taking the beasts of madness off their guard while their ancient master reeled from the defiance and breaking of his control. But soon the natural instincts of the demon hordes would return the favor, and the control of their master soon turned the tide of battle back into a standstill.

This was the scenario Coran had feared when he concocted this plan. The minions of Bhu'kahuh were endless, constantly reinforced from the tunnel leading to the old god's lair. While there was enough support along the front to spell those fighting, such energy would not be eternal. Eventually, be it hours or days, the strength of the mortal armies would wane.

The Charr front had also stalled, suffering from a lack of coordination among the Norn, Charr and Ebon Vanguard. Coran withdrew from the supporting line to try to devise a new strategy. Somehow, they needed to create a third front, something to divert attention and allow for the mortal armies to gain further penetration into the cavern.

He quickly sent for Duke Barradin, who was manning command of the Ascalon army, and was soon joined by General Morghan and Dunkoro, who Coran had met the night before and had demonstrated astonishing strategical aptitude, along with Imperial Guard Zhao to represent the Canthans, and Mamp on behalf of the Asura.

"Gentlemen, I think we can all see the problem." Coran noted grimly.

"The numbers of our foe are making it impossible for us to move further. They are replacing their number as fast as we can kill them." Dunkoro noted in agreement. "Meanwhile, our own numbers are being steadily reduced. At this rate of losses, we won't be able to hold our position much longer than three hours at best."

"We need to somehow open another front to divert the pressure. If we can't improve our rate of killing, we can at least try and reduce their rate of reinforcements." Coran declared. "Any ideas?"

"Our people are strained just to hold what we have, your highness." Barradin said.

Zhao was equally pessimistic. "The Canthan Army is already being called to reinforce our brothers in several places. I would not be able to spare any men for terribly long."

Mamp offered one possibility, "My people could probably slip around where you humans can't. But such a tactic would undoubtedly be a suicide mission, and we would not provide much relief for long."

"See who among your number would be willing, Councilman Mamp. Any relief would be welcome at this moment."

At that moment, the ground trembled. At first assuming it was the work of Bhu'kahuh trying to impose his aura of fear again, Coran discerned that not to be the case, as even the Old One's forces seemed momentarily surprised by the movement of the earth. The prince's next thought was that it was a minor earthquake... but his experience with tectonic science told him two things;

One; that this region of the continent was likely the most stable geological strata on the planet. Until the severe quakes that opened up the northern exit to the surface, the bedrock here had not had a significant shift in over three million years. The chances of two distinct quakes capable of doing so occurring in such a short time was near astronomical in scope.

Two; that earthquakes don't grow gradually stronger as time passes.

And finally, when the din and the quaking didn't seem like it could possibly get any louder, a significant portion of the south cavern wall exploded inward, then collapsed. This was followed moments later by a bevy of voices that sounded like grating stone, hollering and making a most magnificent racket.

But most important, demons and Seers were being mowed down like twigs before a hedge trimmer. This was the third front the mortal armies needed. Said third army seemed to care even less for strategy and coordination than the Charr or Norn, but they made up for it with sheer ferocity... and having bodies and wills of literal and figurative stone didn't hurt, either.

What remained of the dwarves had emerged from the depths in response to the waking evil, and with any luck, would prove to be the force that finally turned the tide.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter Fifty-Eight**

With a surprisingly smooth hiss, the magnetic doors of the deployment bay slid open. Like the rest of the academy grounds, the weapons testing facility was untouched... not even a single thing out of place. Bhu'kahuh's hubris would be his undoing.

Provided Vekk could make the proper alterations to the A.T.O.M. Bomb in time.

"Wonderful!" The Asuran genius exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and relief, "The supplemental Agroium is undisturbed. If adding this to the unit won't do the trick, nothing will!"

"Bring the weapon in here, quickly!" Coran ordered, pleased that his demand was met promptly, the bulky explosive device wheeled in swiftly and mounted into position on the rail that was designed to guide it on the first leg of the journey.

Vekk nodded in approval, "I can do the modifications I need right on the rail, good work. Coran, check the status of the rail. It didn't look like the beasts destroyed any of it from what I could see, but I need to know if there is enough to reach the second stage's ignition speed."

The A.T.O.M. Bomb was propelled by two stages, the second of which was a much more powerful rocket propelled charge. The weapon still needed to be moored to the guide rails when the second stage fired or the entire unit would lose all stability and crash ineffectually. There would still be a big boom most likely, but no dead god.

Coran did indeed check the status of the rails via the console at the head of the bay. "Response from the sensors report the full length of the rail is intact. We're as good to launch as we will ever be."

Vekk nodded, "Good. Get out of here and let me do my work."

Coran agreed. "We'll be outside posting guard."

Vekk shook his head dismissively, "That's not what I mean. Pull all forces back. The blast radius on this thing will be huge, and I want everyone clear long in advance. The automated defenses should hold long enough for me to finish my work."

The headmaster of Atal Ra didn't agree with that assessment and aired his concerns, "Then what are you doing to do?"

"Don't worry about me." Vekk replied, "I'll be fine. It's your people that you should be worried about. You've already lost enough good men and women. There is no need to lose more."

Devona put a comforting arm on Coran's shoulders. "He's right, you know. Barradin was telling me their push was stalling before we even entered the facility. I can't imagine they'll be able to hold their ground for much longer."

But the prince wasn't quite willing to surrender the point. He had a bad, sinking feeling about this. "What are you going to do Vekk? This entire facility will be swarmed, even if the automated defenses hold."

"Damn it, Coran, there's a fully sealed bunker underneath this floor." Vekk replied angrily.

"That's not going to survive the blast, Vekk. You know that."

"And I'm telling you that doesn't matter!" The Asuran snapped viciously. "You have duties to your people!"

"And to those in Atal Ra."

"Atal Ra is dead, and it's going to be more dead once this weapon goes off." Vekk dismissed. "Go! Now! Or I'll turn the automated defenses on _you_!"

The debate had reached its conclusion, and there was little doubt that Vekk had an extremely compelling final argument. Nonetheless, Coran's voice reflected great reluctance as he turned to his communications device, and connected to Duke Barradin. "Barradin, once we emerge from the facility, issue a full retreat of all forces under our command. Let the Charr, Norn, and whatever else proceed as they wont."

"As you command, your highness." The Duke's voice confirmed.

Coran finally acquiesced to Devona and Yue tugging on him, and they took the rear of the guild as they made their way to the exit. But the prince's mind was still racing... there was something about the way that Vekk had answered his questions and concerns that did not settle well with him, that nagging sense of something not being quite right.

Finally, as he, Devona, and Yue were literally two strides from the door, it all congealed into one strong suspicion. Going to his communicator once again, he asked, "Vekk?"

The Asuran was audibly annoyed. "_What_? I have work to do, and not much time to do it in."

Coran's eyes narrowed, his voice laced with accusation, "How are you modifying the A.T.O.M. Bomb? That unit was packed pretty tight... where are you finding the space to fit triple the Agroium charge?"

Even though the headmaster couldn't hear it, he knew Vekk was sighing in resignation. "It's simple, Coran... I've removed the only system non-essential to the primary purpose of the device."

"Vekk..." Coran warned. "What did you remove?"

"The R.D.S."

Coran froze in place. The Remote Detonation System was what Coran was going to use on the surface once the A.T.O.M. Bomb was in position. Without the system in place, someone would have to have a hardwired connection to the unit itself in order to inject the electric charge that would start the anti-matter conversion and subsequent detonation.

"Vekk! Don't you dare!" Coran howled into the communicator, but found that Vekk had terminated the connection, and in fact disabled his communications device entirely. The headmaster was about to turn around when he was cut off by an arm around his chest, and then was hip tossed completely clear of the facility door.

He jumped to his feet swiftly, his throat ready to bark a demand towards this apparent treachery, when he stopped short, and went dumb.

"Yue? What..."

The assassin was just inside the door, her face a mixture of morose and apologetic. "Get going. You don't have much time." She said softly, gesturing with a twitch of her head towards the human army that was already beginning to fall back.

"I will not have you..." Coran protested, before being silenced by Yue's lips. Devona found herself dumbed by the implication of the assassin's actions that the warrior couldn't even stir the tiniest flicker of jealousy, even after Yue had pulled away, and sealed the facility door shut in front of her.

Coran angrily tapped in the clearance code to open the door, and growled in frustration when the console came back with an error. Repeating the code simply repeated the error, and he was about to attempt a third time when through the reinforced window of the door Yue waved a very demolished panel... the other side of the console on the inside of the door. She then mouthed out a single word, "Go", before finally disappearing from view.

In mindless fury, Coran slammed his fists on the unyielding impact resistant metal, echoing his command for Yue to stop this madness and come out of the bay that instant, preferably dragging Vekk along with her... although his exact words honestly weren't quite as articulate. His rage continued until it was quelled by Devona and the realization that the enemy forces were beginning to close in and push the line once more.

Inside the weapons bay, Vekk was frantically (or as frantically as he could considering he was dealing with some of the most unstable materials known to mortals) inserting the additional Agroium into the reaction chamber. After that, he had to seal it up again, and find a way to secure himself to the bomb so that he would be able to activate the charge once at their destination.

The automated defenses were holding, for the moment, but they wouldn't last long, especially since now the forces of Bhu'kahuh were actively seeking to destroy the city. At least they were leaving the rails alone, probably deeming them far down the list of things to destroy.

He could already hear the hordes clawing in anger and fury at the walls of the facility, stealing a glance towards the security display and noting there was one near breach occurring on the south side of the building.

Hence, he was startled when he heard Yue ask, "How long do you need?"

He dumbly regarded the assassin before managing to reply, "Uh... about fifteen minutes?"

A muffled roar of an Oni from the south side drew both their attention, prompting Yue to draw her sai and move towards the sound of the noise. "You've got ten." She muttered grimly before disappearing from the bay with a shadow step.

Fighting back panic (as well as the increasing foreboding of Bhu'kahuh's increasing influence), Vekk dutifully got back to work. This was going to be close...


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Nine**

Captain Langmar was not one to be particularly exuberant, thus when the Ascalon Vanguard's commanding officer burst into the operations building at a full sprint, even Yue took notice.

"All officers at attention and present to the front!" The Captain bellowed. "We are being visited by royalty! Now! Now! _Now!_"

Yue slinked deeper into the corner she had nestled herself into, partially obscured by a support beam and thus only partially lit, as said officers formed a single line in the center of the entry hall, seven in all.

Yue had personally seen two members of the royal family, King Adelbern and Prince Rurik, having exchanged rather terse pleasantries with the latter on one occasion before she had been not no casually nudged aside by her commanding lieutenant. She figured it was another visit from one of them.

But the young man that did eventually enter the building was certainly not, and Yue in fact had to do a double take, as this fellow looked nothing like either man. He carried a much more delicate frame, his features clean shaven and not as rugged as either of the royals she had met before. Apparently, he got more of his mother's side.

"Prince Coran, I present to you the officers of the Northern Regiment of the Ascalon Vanguard." Langmar said with a slow sweep of her arm.

"I am certain my brother maintains you all well." The young man said with a respectful bow. "However, I am not needing anything specific at this time. You are all dismissed. Captain, if we may speak alone for a moment?"

Langmar bowed deeply, "Of course, your highness," then she gestured for the lieutenants to do as ordered as Coran requested for his personal guard to wait outside.

"Now then..." The prince began, "You don't need to worry about trying to impress me in the hopes that will see a better offering from the royal coffers. That's not why I am here."

Yue fought back a chuckle as her captain immediately denied such a hope, even as her eyes reflected that disappointment. "I would never dream of such an implication." Langmar said, "So then, may I be so bold as to ask the reason of this visit?"

"I am in need of the services of your finest scout." Prince Coran answered, "Preferably one with extensive knowledge of the Northlands."

Captain Langmar pondered this, "Lieutenant Janice is our highest ranking scout... she frequently is in charge of plotting Charr movements."

"I didn't say your highest ranking scout." Coran corrected, "I said your best. It has long been my observation that the two are rarely the same."

"Oh!" Langmar chirped. "Well... then... I suppose that would be..."

The captain then grew nervous, prompting Coran to ask, "What is it?"

"Well..." The captain said with a somewhat apologetic glance in Yue's direction. "She's Canthan, you see..."

"So?" Coran replied as if he didn't understand the big deal. "Is that supposed to matter to me?"

Yue found herself liking this young man, an attitude in stark contrast to Rurik, who as she had noted earlier had somewhat ruffled himself in her presence, like a man suddenly confronted with a mangy, sickly dog.

"Well, to some it does." Langmar said, "But if it is of no concern to you then I suppose all you need to do is turn around. Corporal Yue, step forward."

"Oh goodness!" The prince yelped as he turned about and finally noted the assassin's presence for the first time. "Yes, I suspect she will do quite nicely. You are dismissed, Captain."

"May I inquire about the nature of what you be having my scout doing?"

"No you may not, Captain. My business is for her ears alone." The prince replied sternly.

"Understood, your highness. With your leave." Langmar bowed deeply once more, and retreated deeper into the building.

"Now, with that out of the way..." Coran said after some moments silence, "Your first task is that we need to get out of town without being seen."

Oh yes... she was really liking this young man indeed...

* * * * *

She hadn't always felt that way over the years; in fact, she had been questioning that initial sentiment within the hour, when Coran had introduced her to a Charr Shaman named Grazz. But nonetheless, she found that her time spent with the young prince was more pleasant than not. He was the first person outside of Captain Langmar who didn't judge her based on her ancestry, and the first to seriously listen to what she had to say.

But that would change when she abruptly got summons from her captain to report to her office.

Inside, Captain Langmar was waiting, standing in front of her desk. "Greetings Corporal."

"Ma'am. Did you wish to see me?"

"As you may already know, soon to be Captain Janice is receiving a promotion to Prince Rurik's regiment of the Ascalon Vanguard. That leaves a Lieutenant's billet open within our own regiment."

"Yes..." Yue drawled warily.

"I am rather ashamed that I never had the courage to really challenge accepted customs prevalent within the Ascalon Army. I don't know how many times I've told you that I've promoted you as far as I dared." Langmar noted with a bit of a frown. "But... my courage is bolstered considerably when I have a prince in my corner."

"Captain?"

"Prince Coran has already agreed to lend his support if it comes to that, and so I am going to tell the Armsmasters just where to shove it. Stand at attention, Corporal."

The assassin did as ordered... but the cynical part of her mind kept warning her this was some sort of joke.

It kept trying to convince her of that, although that voice in her head got progressively weaker as Captain Langmar added the proper pins and rank bars to the breast pocket of her uniform. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Yue. You've deserved this for a long time."

The captain stepped back, grabbed an envelope from her desk, and shoved it into the assassin's hand. "These are your initial orders. You still have to complete an officer's orientation and test, they begin in one week at the Royal Army Barracks in Rin. I trust you will represent us well. Dismissed, Lieutenant."

Yue snapped a quick salute, and rushed back to her quarters to prepare. Once inside and the door was shut, she ripped open the envelope. The first thing that caught her attention was a letter, written in a far more elegant script than the blocky printed type of her orders.

_My friend,_

I am glad I was able to offer you my assistance in your long overdue and well deserved promotion. I have no doubt you will pass your trial with exceptional marks and perform your duties beyond reproach and leave the Armsmasters with no choice but to accept this rank.

I am sorry that I was not able to give you these orders in person, as was my hope, but even a second prince's duties and studies can be quite overwhelming. There is a find in the Southern Shiverpeaks that the Deldrimor Dwarves recommended I examine. I will do what I can to return in time for your commencement into the officer corps. Until then, Dwayna guide you.

~Coran

P.S. I know the Captain that will be leading you very well; she is every bit as capable as you are, and I am certain will share my opinion of your worth, Canthan or no. You can trust her implicitly.

With that in mind, Yue turned to the orders she was given.

**On Day 110, within the Season of the Phoenix, of the year 1268, Lieutenant-Designate Yue is to report to the Royal Army Barracks of Rin no later than midday call. You will be assigned to Training Regiment 1, under the command of Captain-Designate Devona. Report to your Captain-Designate for specific orders throughout the remainder of the orientation program.**


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty**

Yue pretty much hated Devona from the first moment they met.

To be fair, it wasn't anything the Captain-Designate had done specifically. In fact, the warrior's initial reaction to Yue's arrival was amiable and accepting, just as Coran had predicted.

But Captain Devona was also attractive, confident, and very much Ascalonian, traits that Yue found a bit threatening, as it made for a very lovely combination that her slight frame and passive tendencies did not measure favorably to in her mind.

Hey, it wasn't easy being flat chested, foreign, and insecure in a society of busty, trim, tone, and pale skinned effortless beauties. And yes, even military officers thought about things like that.

Then again, as Captain Langmar put it, Yue did seem to have a prince in her corner.

Coran had apparently made double time back from his trip to the Shiverpeaks, as the herald outside the Royal Barracks announced his arrival the afternoon that the first of the combat simulation tests was due to start. It was an announcement that was met with some considerable surprise, as the youngest son of the king was not known for appearing at military events.

As Yue's training regiment was announced, and they passed the grand royal box, Yue watched and allowed herself a slight smile as the prince waved towards her. She obviously couldn't return the gesture and break attention (Captain Devona on the other hand afforded herself a respectful salute and hail), but the assassin hoped he understood.

He did, from what happened that evening. Captain Devona stepped into their assigned barracks, a large box in her arms. "It appears we have an admirer in the stands, ladies and gentlemen."

She dropped the box, which sound rather heavy from the way it thudded against the floorboards, then pulled a sheet of folded parchment that she had tucked in the pocket of her (very ample, Yue noted jealously) chest. "To the first Training Regiment, and the finest officer in whole Ascalon Army; be sure to share this with your unit, as I understand the rations and supplies granted by the army can be somewhat meager. Prince Coran of Ascalon."

Devona winked, and ripped open the top of the box. "Well, surely we can't refuse an order of royalty, now can we?"

As high quality jerky, blankets, pillows, and other creature comforts were passed out to each of the officer designates, Yue had to admit that the captain was right, even as she was annoyed that Devona had taken a liberty that Yue did not think was meant for her.

That sting only amplified as Devona handed Yue the assassin's "share" of the bounty with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

* * * * *

The second day of trials and training had passed without incident, and bolstering the assassin's pride was the rankings from the Warmasters that placed her regiment first among all the training regiments, and her scout team with the highest marks among all in her discipline.

Yue had to acknowledge a great deal of that came from the men and women under her command. One ranger, a rather experienced individual named Aiden, had been very helpful, making observations that Yue had missed and helping the assassin on more than one occasion make the right choices and what was important to report back to Captain Devona. She had learned more from the ranger in two days than she had from then Lieutenant Janice in two _years_.

So, it was with emboldened spirits that the assassin retired for the night, spirits that received an ever greater hope after night fell upon the city of Rin and the Royal Army Barracks. Never known to be a heavy sleeper, she was awoken by the mumbling of two men talking, one of them a voice that Yue recognized as Coran's.

Stealthily slipping out of the barracks, she moved along the outer wall of the longhouse, back to where the men were speaking. They were sitting at a campfire just outside where Yue had been trying to sleep; Coran, Rurik (astonishingly... as the two brothers were rather infamous for not being the best of friends), Armsmaster Saberlin, and Warmaster Tydus. Quite a collection of high officers and nobility.

And she arrived within clear earshot just in time, as the conversation turned to something that interested her greatly.

"So, your highess..." Saberlin began, "I mean... your other highness," he added when Rurik turned his head in the armsmaster's direction, "You're not one to usually be present for the war games. I'm curious what brings you to this one."

"Yes, Coran... tell him." Rurik teased, jabbing the younger prince in the side with what Yue assumed was meant to be a gentle elbow that nonetheless jerked Coran quite noticeably.

Tydus joined the ribbing, this time in the metaphorical sense, "Rumor has it that an officer in the First Training Regiment has caught his eye."

"Oh really? Rumor told you that?" Coran answered, his voice nonchalant even as he grinned like a crazed Melandru's Stalker. "I wonder who your informant was." The younger prince then cast a playful glare at his older brother.

"Well, is it true? Has some military woman really caught the scholar prince's attention?"

With a dismissive shake of his head, he acknowledged, "Yes."

The three other men laughed heartily, "Is it serious?"

This time, Coran answered without hesistation and with considerable conviction, "I do believe I am love with the girl, yes, and I'm fairly certain she feels the same way."

Saberlin noted, "That won't be a problem, will it? I don't think she's noble born, is she?"

"Our father fully approves of the relationship." Rurik assured, "Duke Barradin has also approved of such a pairing. I don't see the dukes and lords having any considerable complaint."

"It's not like I'm in line for the throne anyway." Coran said with a shrug. "That offers me a bit more freedom in my choice for a mate."

At that point, Yue had backed away. Could Coran be talking about... no... that can't be. She shook her head, trying to banish the thought. That was silly... there was no way the prince could be at all interested in a slight, girlish looking, Canthan woman like herself.

But as she slipped back into the barracks, her heart started to make its argument. She was an officer in the First Training Regiment, and certainly wasn't a noblewoman (well, at least, not a Tyrian noblewoman, her family was supposedly once a minor house in Kaineng City...), and she had to admit, he spent a lot of time with her... he was always so encouraging... so caring... he went out of his way to send her a gift for her birthday and Wintersday... that one time his hand brushed hers by accident... maybe it wasn't an accident after all?

As slumber took over again, Yue couldn't help but think that maybe... just maybe... her life was about to change again...

* * * * *

And change it did... although not in the way she hoped.

The final test had been completed... every officer of the First Training Regiment had received the highest marks... Yue even had the pleasure of watching the panel of masters have to admit that a Canthan immigrant had performed every task, jumped through every hoop, and did so in exemplary fashion, and acknowledge there was no reason she should not receive an officer's commendation.

She had heard that Coran was actually in the barracks itself, and Yue allowed herself to dare the unthinkable. This wasn't coincidence... everything she had experienced... he really cared about her!

Hastily making herself as presentable as possible, she nearly sprinted to the entry, only to pull short at the door as Captain Devona flung herself into Coran's arms...

… and Yue's dreams shattered like glass...


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty-One**

Yue felt she had been quite professional. She didn't let her personal feelings interfere with the very important work she did for Prince Coran. It didn't matter at all that he was completely smitten with the very vision of what she could never be and loathed for that reason.

She could pretend it didn't bother her at all like the best of them.

Not that her jealousy and bitterness didn't occasionally show, even if Coran was largely oblivious to it.

"Well, I suppose I should return to the palace now. There's only so long I can justify milling about under the guise of scholarly research." Coran said, standing up from the desk that they had been analyzing the information Yue had gathered and Grazz had informed them on.

"What, your betrothed has you on that short of a leash already?" Yue snipped. "One would think Captain Devona wouldn't have much grounds to tell you to stay out of harm's way."

Coran's eyes narrowed in confusion, and he replied, "No, my father." The prince's eyes narrowed further, and he queried in suspicion, "How do you know that I am betrothed to Captain Devona, anyway?"

Yue lowered her head, and replied, "I saw Captain Devona nearly tackle you before the conscription ceremony. It didn't seem like something casual friends would do, and the rumors that you're already bonded aren't exactly new." She wasn't particularly inclined to reveal that she had eavesdropped on previous conversations he had with others.

"I... see..." The prince remarked morosely.

"Why didn't you tell me you were engaged?" Yue asked, hurt. "I don't think this is a new development."

Coran sat back down, and replied, "It's not. Devona and I were officially betrothed by my father and her mother when we were still children. As for why I didn't tell you... I didn't tell anybody. Devona wants to earn her own way, she wants to ascend the ranks on her own merits, not worry that every promotion is due to her association with me."

"You mean... like mine was?"

He dropped a comforting arm around Yue's shoulders. "My friend, you _did_ earn your station on your own merits; I merely repelled the rampant racism that permeates the minds of fickle old men that define military regulations."

"Nonetheless, Lieutenant, very few people know who exactly I am betrothed to." Coran added as he again stepped away. "I would appreciate it if it remained that way."

"You know you can trust me with anything." Yue said earnestly.

The Prince's soft smile could have warmed ice. "Yes, I do. Thank you, Yue."

* * * * *

There had been a time, long ago, where Yue would have honestly thought that something like the disappearance (and presumed death) of Coran would be the hardest thing for her to face. Ironically, it was seeing his face lit up hopefully that gave her the most harsh metaphorical punch in the gut.

After the earthquakes, it had brightened her spirit to learn that the prince still lived, and that he had summoned her to his side immediately, and brightened even further to learn that he hadn't done the same with a certain Ascalon Captain who Yue decided could remain nameless.

It had seemed like they were getting closer in she-who-would-not-be-named's absence, and for a short while, Yue started to believe maybe, just maybe, that the feelings between them that she had convinced herself were one-sided might not be all that one-sided after all.

That all changed with one smile on the now headmaster's face... a smile she had learned he only had in regards to one person.

"I received word for Rata Sum." The man nearly chirped.

Yue could sense the coming gut punch, and braced herself for it. "About what?"

"A warrior just reported in, along with her guild to assist the Asura in pushing back the Destroyers." Coran replied. "She's still alive, Yue."

The assassin knew that it probably made her a bad person to be upset by this news. "I assume you'll be contacting her shortly, then?"

"Councilman Mamp is refusing any communication between Atal Ra and the humans." Coran replied with a shake of his head. "He wants to keep the Academy secret still. But... if you happened to deliver this whenever you find the time, I'd appreciate it."

Another letter, carefully written and sealed, was pushed into her nearly slack hand. Another letter that would get buried in the bottom of her dresser like the other sixteen. Not that Coran would ever be permitted to know that.

"Of course... when I have the time to spare. Trips across the continent tend to not come easily, however." Yue replied, her eyes trying not to transfix themselves too spitefully on the letter in her hand while maintaining the self-control to not drop it in disgust.

"Thanks, Yue. What would I ever do without you?"

* * * * *

Coran would have to come up with the answer to that question on his own. If the Oni and the Seers and whatever the hells else Bhu'khahuh was going to throw out of its den didn't kill her, the explosion that Vekk was going to set off most assuredly would.

Her left hand sai pierced an Oni in its temple, its black blood sizzling her wrist, which was already largely exposed and severely acid burnt from the ichor of twelve of its kin. She barely felt the pain at this point... sinking into the haze of battle and life or death struggle.

The assassin had taken up her defensive position just inside the breach in the wall, using it as a bottleneck for the demonic horde, forcing them to either take the time to widen the hole (which left them open to her attack), or filter in one by one.

Several serrated demon teeth, attached to a dismembered Oni Yue mistakenly assumed was dead, sinking into her calf didn't even faze the assassin. She kicked it away with a sharp jerk of her left foot, but at that point, Yue realized her position was no longer defensible. A second breach was made twenty feet to her north, and the Oni beasts quickly jumped through in an attempt to flank the lone defender.

Falling back would merely be delaying the inevitable, and possibly endanger Vekk's efforts. This was it. She could provide a few more seconds, but not much else.

Until abruptly, one Oni climbing through the secondary breach instead flew through the gap in three pieces, and a high pitched growl of fury accompanied her unexpected support.

"Hamm?" The assassin asked, "What in the name of Grenth are you still doing here?"

The Asuran warrior looked like he had been run over by a dolyak stampede; his armor barely hanging by one shoulder strap to his body, his shield broken in half along its height, and his glaive chipped off a quarter of the length down the blade. His blood poured liberally down his body, mixed with the black ooze of his foes.

"There is an emergency bunker located underneath this complex. The entrance is one hundred feet down the south hall. You really can't miss it." Hamm ordered, his broken glaive still more than enough to decapitate an Oni trying to climb over its fallen kin. "Vekk's about ready to launch the weapon... it's undergoing the countdown as we speak."

"I can't let you kill yourself in my place!"

Hamm snarled, "Woman... I died four days ago with my the rest of my Krewe, my body just doesn't know that yet. Let me join my brothers. You on the other hand, might have some days left... if your gods are willing. Now, get!"

The sole survivor of the First Elite Defense Krewe of Atal Ra didn't wait to see if Yue would obey his order, he instead turned his full attention to his foes, who despite their natural fearlessness were tentative to approach the grotesque creature that had been mowing through their ranks.

"There's gotta be one of you that can kill me..." Hamm grumbled, and charged into the demons again with a berserker rage.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty-Two**

_My father once gave his life to save others, even those he wasn't terribly fond of. At the time, I didn't understand what compelled him to commit what I considered suicide. Now I do. Sometimes... sometimes... you're the only one that can do the job, and in doing that job, you have to give everything to complete it._

It's a rare elixir, knowing that what you're about to do will likely be your last living act; and yet, at the same time, you wouldn't have it any other way. It's a stark contrast to my kind's self-preserving nature.

I understand so much more now... why my father was so distant, why he seemed different from the rest of us. I think he knew... I think he knew the lengths he would go to preserve our people. To him, it was just a matter of time before he was required to do so. I might not have had his foresight, but nonetheless, it's my turn now.

Dad... I'll be seeing you soon.

There was a real good chance his dictated log would never make it to Rata Sum for storage... considering how badly the demonic minions of Bhu'kahuh were now actively destroying anything mortal made in Atal Ra.

That really didn't bother him, considering that in roughly two minutes and thirty-eight seconds he was going to level the whole damn cavern complex.

The muffled sounds of combat were still going on in the adjoining hall, and Vekk finally allowed himself confidence in his success. Turned out Yue bought him slightly more than ten minutes after all. Now all he needed was ten seconds.

From the console, he activated the rocket propelled weapon's final countdown, and dashed to the top of the A.T.O.M. Bomb where he had prepared a makeshift seat and harness. Despite the fact it was lashed together in about three minutes, and likely would get shredded simply by the force of acceleration as the rockets fired... to Vekk that seemed to be the least worrisome thing that could catastrophically fail in this endeavor.

And it's not like he had time to test it and make sure it worked properly.

"Ten seconds until ignition." The warm Asuran voice of the bay systems noted as Vekk strapped himself down tight, making sure every buckle was pulled as tightly as possible, and gripped the thumb unit as firmly in his hand as possible, literally wrapping his entire hand in a strap just as the voice declared that launch was imminent, and the bay doors leading to the exterior opened to the cavern outside.

It immediately drew the attention of the Old One's minions, but they would be far too late to stop the weapon now.

"Have a nice day!" The system chirped, and the propulsion systems of the A.T.O.M. Bomb flared to life.

It was quite evident very quickly that the weapon was not designed for someone to be strapped to it as it was fired, as the burst of acceleration nearly whipped Vekk's head backward with a violent jerk. In fact, that sort of movement should have been fatal.

He discerned the reason for his continued living as the weapon rocketed out of the bay at speeds beyond anything natural... a ghostly apparition glowing a pale violet that he was honestly amazed he saw considering his rate of travel and the chaos all about.

_Can't let you be dying just yet after all your hard work._

Well... that was thoughtful...

The Oni tried to impede and stop his path, but it was a futile effort; not even the dread beasts could slow a machine traveling at speeds faster than even sound could keep up with. The A.T.O.M. Bomb ripped them in half or crushed them under its mass, something that should have easily jerked the weapon off the rails and careening off course.

_Only keeping you on the right track. Not going to interfere more than that._

Another apparition, a ghostly flame, as he powered through into the adjoining tunnel, caught his eye.

_Are you sure you wish to do this?_

Another of the human's gods, no doubt, the blue, featureless face now readily located due to the increasing darkness of the tunnel before it entered the chamber of Bhu'kahuh.

There was no doubt about it really. After all this... he felt he needed to be the one to end the menace. He wasn't going to allow any outside force to steal that from him, to be the one that initiated the pinnacle of mortal ingenuity and power.

The remaining human gods of Tyria guided him through the chaotic den, their powers allowing them the knowledge that Vekk would have had to leave to chance. While theoretically, anything that went boom of the A.T.O.M. Bomb's size would blow up anything anywhere in the cavern... Vekk wanted Bhu'kahuh to see it firsthand... to watch everything literally blow up in his hideous, grotesque face.

The gods weren't so much aiding him as they were granting him that poetic justice, he rationalized.

Even as the scenery shifted wildly, Vekk knew he was on the right path... he could feel it. He knew the touch of Bhu'kahuh... he could almost taste the Old One's presence coming closer, even as the rockets fully expended their fuel and only momentum was keeping the entire contraption moving forward, Vekk still sensed that it was all going to work out. This sense of impending victory and hope was such a stark contrast from the last time he was here that it bolstered his belief even further... the self-proclaimed "Lord of Madness" had no power but what Vekk let him have.

Then time seemed to slow to a crawl, one last goddess awaited him, right inside the hall of carvings Vekk remembered as the entry to Bhu'kahuh's throne chamber.

_Thank you... whatever it is worth... there is a place within the Hall of Heroes for you if you so desire it. I'm sure your father would like to see you._ Kormir's voice echoed in his head.

Vekk allowed himself a wry smile. Vekk somehow doubted even destroying an ancient god of the gods would impress old Gadd.

Time returned to its normal tempo so abruptly that Vekk's brain didn't even catch up until the A.T.O.M. Bomb crawled to a stop in the center of the Old One's throne room. That memorable inhuman hissing roar drew Vekk's attention upward into the fully animated face of Bhu'kahuh itself.

It's tendril comprised face writhed sickeningly, it's blood red glowing eyes sunk deep within the slithering facial structure. It's slitted catlike pupil dilated, then bulged wide, finally sensing the building energy within the weapon... and finally coming to grips with the threat it posed.

Vekk smiled; the Old One finally knew what it was like to feel fear.

"My conclusion?" Vekk grinned maliciously, his thumb poised on the trigger. "You're not that scary after all..."

The last sight of Vekk's mortal life was the image of Bhu'kahuh, father of the gods, the Lord of Madness, trying to shuffle back away from the inverted Agroium reaction, then the bright white light of a primal fire rarely seen beyond the beginnings of the universe, unleashed from the core of the A.T.O.M Bomb.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty-Three**

Coran hadn't wanted to see the fruits of his labor, but also knew there was nothing much for it. A day after the earth below shook (Rata Sum reported noticable seismic activity even from their vantage point), it was time to behold the aftermath.

That took considerable effort. The blast doors that had been designed to withstand the initially planned blast had been warped outward severely by the intense heat and energy released from the explosion within Bhu'kahuh's chamber. It took thirty minutes in itself just to force open the twisted metal wide enough for people to comfortably come and go.

"I wasn't seeing things when I thought I saw leaking energy." Coran noted, referring to the bright white glowing vapor trails that he had pointed out shortly after the quake, which he theorized was residue from the initial shockwave striking the blast doors.

Devona and her guildmates took the lead, prepared just in the off chance that the explosion didn't completely eradicate the hellish infestation within the cavern. Coran followed soon after, then Duke Barradin, then King Adelbern, with his Vanguard forming in his protection once past the door into the wider tunnel.

It was then that Devona became aware of the background noise once prevalent in Atal Ra... the subtle crackle of energy, the subdued bustle of it denizens... aware only due to the true silence that pervaded the tunnel and cavern. Now, the only sound was from the people sent in to survey the damage. The once smoothly carved rock from the drill made a crunching sound as she and her allies walked over it, which Coran explained was due to the heat of the explosion literally melting the earth and turning into something more akin to glass than rock.

The lights of the city and academy were gone... along with the rest of it. Their lanterns turned up nothing, no reflection off the towers, no glint of gold or metal... merely inky blackness as the light faded into the darkness.

"The anti-matter explosion likely created a chain reaction, that rampaged out of control, shifting and in turn detonating any matter it came in contact with until the heat dissipated and could no longer sustain the process of shifting the matter into its reactive counterpart. There won't be anything here." Coran predicted.

His prediction was spot on. There was nothing, even when the survey group reached what had been the central square of the academy grounds. From wall to wall of the cavern, there was nothing but black, glassy earth.

"Shame that I didn't not have the capacity to see this place before its fall." The old king mused wistfully, "I had heard such wonderful stories of the city you ruled, Coran."

The prince only seemed to half register what his father had said. "Yes... a shame." He replied distractedly, his eyes turned towards the south into the darkness.

"There likely isn't anything left over there, either." Devona noted, gently rubbing her beloved's shoulder.

"I know there isn't." Coran answered. "But, if anything is... it would be there."

Devona clicked her teeth to get the attention of the team, "Alright, let's move. Coran wants to check out the weapons testing facility. There was an underground bunker that might have survived the blast."

On the way, they heard the sound of something else approaching, the telltale signs of cracking glass earth giving whatever it was away. Initially defensive of the royal pair, it softened, but just barely, as more lights became visible, heralding the approach of a Charr war party, led by Pyre and Grazz right behind.

Adelbern, surprisingly, was the first to order both sides to stand down. "Hold your arms, men. Today... today... we mourn the loss of those who gave themselves on Tyria's darkest day. Thanks to them, there will be plenty of time to renew war tomorrow."

"Well said, king." Pyre answered with a surprising hint of respect. "I assume Coran is heading towards the weapons testing building? Then, let us proceed."

On that short expedition, the Fierce clan chief admitted, "In honesty, I am here to assess what my people will have to fare against in the future."

"There will be no repeat of this weapon." Coran said with a grim determination that startled Devona by its suddenness. "I have already destroyed my notes on my findings of the Eternal Alchemy, and nothing anyone can do will cajole me to replicate them." In an aside, he whispered to Devona, "Sorry, love... not even your life."

"I understand fully." Devona earnestly replied. She wouldn't want to be a factor in re-creating such a destructive force, anyway. She'd kill _herself_ before Coran would have to make such a choice.

The facility offered one stark difference from the rest of the cavern. The ground there had caved in, right where Coran had pointed out as the location of the underground bunker.

"The heat encrusted ground wouldn't be as stable as the solid earth it once was, especially with the seismic activity created by the explosion." Coran explained slowly, Devona surprised by the hopeful lilt the prince's voice now carried, "But the fact that it caved in tells me that perhaps... something still exists beneath the rubble."

And so, after carefully negotiating the descent of thirty feet into the bottom of the collapse, the assembled group began to churn the fragments of heat forged rock. Even King Adelbern assisted in the efforts as he could.

"I assume we are looking for remains?" the aged king observed. "Perhaps of that Canthan Lieutenant of the Northern Vanguard?"

"She had a name, father." Coran grated.

"Yes, I know. Yue." Adelbern replied, earning a surprised look from his son. "One does not forget such a unique face among the officers of the army, my boy."

Devona flushed in embarrassment. She had... not even remembering that the assassin had been in her training regiment all those years ago until Coran mentioned it the night before in the small memorial he had held in Yue and Vekk's honor.

"She had been quite brilliant, hadn't she?" Adelbern continued. "I'm not sure if you were there as the Warmasters vainly searched for any reason to disqualify her from an officer's commission. To see their bigotry and hatred in full display... I learned the folly of my prejudice those twelve days. I remember feeling... pure, I suppose when I finally told the Warmasters to stop their silly games and promote the woman."

"I had heard someone finally stepped in and ended the deliberation before I had the chance." Coran said. "Thank you, father..."

His voice trailed off as his attention turned downward towards his foot. "Devona... over here."

The warrior complied, the rest of the team following suit in curiosity as Coran dug through the rubble gingerly. Finally, once Devona had arrived on the site, Coran held up a stained black, leather article, the gold of its centerpiece faintly glinted when the light of the lanterns struck it at the right angle.

The headband Devona had given to Yue before the battle for safekeeping.


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter Sixty-Four**

The old King of Ascalon, morose and thoughtful up until this point, finally had the shift in temperament that Coran had been dreading.

"And to accomplish this grand feat of destruction, I see you banded wits with the Charr." Adelbern grumbled. "What else have you dirtied your hands with the Charr to accomplish, Coran? Like perhaps learning of a great weapon the Charr were about to use?"

Coran said nothing, silently gauging where the support in any potential conflict would lie. The King's Vanguard would to a man defend his father. Meanwhile, Devona and her guild would most likely fall behind Coran. Add to the complexity would be Pyre and his warband, who would probably swiftly move eliminate both royals if the opportunity presented itself. But even then, the Fierce clan representatives would likely quickly come under attack, possibly from both sides... even if the Charr were to do absolutely nothing.

It would be a bloodbath with no winners, and certainly not a place to escalate this confrontation.

"I did what I had to do for the good of Ascalon," was the prince's measured reply, "I'm sorry if my means anger you."

"They do more than anger me." Adelbern hissed, "You know the crime for consorting with our hated enemy."

In a bit of a surprising gesture, Pyre not only spoke up, but in Coran's defense, "As much as I like to see humans fighting amongst themselves, and on any other day would agree completely with your sentiments, 'king'..." The Charr chieftain said that title almost as if spitting it out, "I would think the circumstances required such a unconventional response."

"Silence, mangy animal." Adelbern shot back, and it was nothing but Grazz's firm hand on Pyre's shoulder that kept the Fierce clan leader from charging to an almost certain death at the hands of the King's Vanguard.

"There is only one fitting punishment for the treason you've committed." Aderbern snarled, pointing an accusing finger at his son. "From this day forth, you are not welcome in Ascalon. Neither is your wife or her guild. You are all banished." The increasingly enraged king then turned to Devona with a bile that the warrior would never have imagined could come from a man she knew literally her entire life. "I should have learned my lesson the first time I cast you out with your husband's damned fool brother. By the end of this day, if you have not left _my_ kingdom..." He left the decree unfinished, whether that the consequences would be assumed or he didn't wish to suggest he'd have his own blood killed was known only to him.

"Now, just one Grenth-forsaken minute!" Cynn began to protest, "You didn't cast _any_ of us out! We left of our own free will. We'll see what the Lords have to say about you banishing a Lady of Surmia..."

Coran held out his arm to stop the indignant elementalist. "This is not the time or place... and I do believe that was my father's intent. Well played. Come, friends, let us leave him to his dusty, dying land. We've learned all we need to learn here anyway."

The exiled prince made his leave, coaxing his allies rather sternly to follow, then made one not so veiled promise to his father. "This isn't over. No matter what you might think. You have no heirs... do you think you'll live forever?"

Adelbern huffed, yet had no words for his son, staring into the darkness angrily... at least until the young men and women had disappeared from sight and earshot. At that point, his eyes cast downward, and all the supposed fury in his body had vanished instantly.

"The penalty for treason is death, Adelbern." Barradin noted. "You know this."

"It makes for a nice convenient excuse to get Coran out of the kingdom though." Pyre added.

"I know I am not always of sound mind." Adelbern admitted, his voice and thoughts lucid now that his deception was no longer needed. "I know that I have little time left. I also know Ascalon as we know it, is dead. Us old men will fight the bitter fight, for this is all we have; this is all we know. But them... those young folks... they have a future. Our Ascalon may be dead, but theirs could still live; provided we don't drag them down with us."

"Make no mistake, Charr." The old king then warned Pyre, "Ascalon will never be yours for the taking. If you think me weak, if you think my forces tired and frail, come. You will learn your lesson quickly and painfully. Though we breathe our last breath, we will breathe it fighting. You will have to earn this land with your blood, sweat, and tears."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, 'king'." Pyre replied earnestly, a silent feeling bordering on respect shared between the two before the Charr chieftain barked, "Fierce clan; we will withdraw. Now!"

As they retreated back towards the surface of Tyria, Pyre beckoned Grazz to his side. "I have a very special and important mission for you. It will likely be a very long one."

The former shaman gauged Pyre carefully as he explained, "The 'king' is right. All we know is war and fighting. This is our path, and as far down it as we are... we really don't have much choice but to finish it."

Pyre glanced about to make sure there weren't any prying ears he wouldn't want overhearing the monologue before he continued, "But... maybe... it doesn't have to be that way for our cubs."

"I have three cubs, did you know that?" Pyre asked rhetorically, "Of course you don't. As sure as Burntfur burns, I'm amazed _I_ know that. I haven't seen them since they were barely old enough to open their eyes. I'm not supposed to care, you know. All for the clan, all for the Charr. You know_that_, at least."

"But... in these last few years... I've come to see maybe we're not all that different. Maybe some of us _can_ get along. Maybe my cubs and the humans' cubs don't _have_ to kill each other on sight."

Pyre slapped Grazz on the shoulder. "He trusts you, and now, so do I. Watch him... keep him safe... keep his cubs safe. The more humans on Tyria that are like him means the less Charr like me. I... I think that would be a good thing."

This was not an easy task to level on any Charr; a life duty, and to a human family at that. But Grazz understood, and that Pyre chose him for that task for that very reason. Grazz clasped Pyre's forearm, and nodded in acceptance.

"Thank you." Pyre finished, "Grazz Fiercemane."

* * * * *

"Barradin... this is madness." Devona said to her mentor. "It was madness the first time you stayed; and it's even more madness now. Come with us."

They stood at the limits of Ascalon city, towards the west exit looking out towards the road that would wind past Rin and on towards the Shiverpeaks and Kryta, where Devona made one last appeal to her teacher.

"Devona, all I've ever known was the Green Hills Country and my estate. All I've ever been and will be is here. I'm too old to start learning new ways and a new home." The Ascalonian nobleman declined. "Besides, I vowed my life to Adelbern... just like your father did. I can't abandon him, no matter how far his mind goes. You however, need to go and be happy. One day, it'll be your children, or your grand-children, or maybe even further on, that will come back to Ascalon. That's your duty; to never let the blood of Ascalon die, even if the land does."

"I'll miss you, you know." Devona admitted, "And I won't be coming back this time."

"Then let this be your last memory of me. I'm still strong and vital enough. I can still carry my hammer. There are a lot worse memories you could have." The grizzled duke replied. "I remember when your mother came to me, asking me to train you. 'It's what Mordekai would have wanted', she said. I already knew that, of course, he had said as much to me. In that time, you've become almost a daughter to me, in ways that my departed Althea hadn't been. I already have to bear the ghost of one baby girl on my conscience. Go, as far away from here as you can; I don't want to have to bear another."

"Devona..." Coran interjected, "I'd like to reach the wall by sunset."

"Your highness, yes, I used that phrase." Barradin said before Coran could protest, "You will always be your father's son, no matter what words of anger he might utter in his unraveling mind. You and Devona need to watch out for each other. Ascalon's future rests with you."

"We know." The prince said with a bow, and with a gentle arm across Devona's shoulders, turned her around and led her to where the rest of her friends were waiting further down the beaten gravel path.

King Adelbern watched them leave, grim determination forming. There _would_ be an Ascalon for their children's children's children to return to. He would make sure of that. The defenders of the kingdom that remained would make sure of that.

Those that remained all knew of one final bit of magic that remained in the dying kingdom's heart... they all stayed because of it. Even when all flesh burned away, when all bone was ground to dust, the last magic of Ascalon would keep at least the last city from falling... Ascalon City would never fall to Charr hands.

"They're gone, sire." Barradin voice said, the duke making quick time to the king's location outside the temporary palace.

Adelbern drew his blade, the flaming sword Magdaer. Within the fire embraced steel lay the preservation of Ascalon, that would wait for the children's return.

"Are you ready to live forever, my friend?" The old king asked.

"As long as it takes." Barradin answered.

"It won't be long." Adelbern observed, "The Charr will descend upon us with all their feral might soon enough." He lifted his blade to the sky, where even the setting sun started to pale before the burning blade of Magdaer, and recited, "'Here, at the end of your lives, they will burn, and you will rise. Here, you will wait, for the return of the line'. I had lost hope of that, my friend, when Rurik died. Now, I hope again."

Barradin bowed his head at the recital of a secret prophecy, held among the line of Doric and royal family of Ascalon for generations. "So says Balthezar, so it will be done."


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty-Five**

"I've been through the Shiverpeaks before." Coran chattered, "You'd think I'd be prepared for how cold it is."

"You can never be prepared for it." Devona replied, her closeness to his shoulder just as much out of affection as it was to keep warm. This was a true Shiverpeaks blizzard, without the beacon of a dwarven settlement to lend hope to tired, chilled bones.

However, while the dwarves were no longer around, the remains of their kingdom were, and it lent for a place to wait out the storm in relative shelter. Coran figured it was as good of a time and place as any to explain his next move.

Devona and her allies had sensed something was off about Coran, but most of them passed it off as emotional stress, knowing he was following the same path his brother had taken. But Devona suspected differently... and Aidan _knew_ differently.

"Coran... I've been meaning to bring this up..." the ranger began, "I can't help but notice we are taking a rather northerly course, drifting off the easiest route to Kryta for the last couple of days. I can tell you aren't lost... so I am loathe to say we're heading to Kryta at this point."

Questioning glances turned Coran's way, and the exiled prince admitted, "Because we're not. Kryta's too politically unstable right now. Queen Salma is having a difficult transition as it is between establishing a proper base of power, along with the continued resistance of the White Mantle. The last thing Kryta needs is the son of the legendary King Doric appearing on its lands."

Gwen, assigned as the Ebon Vanguard's escort through the Shiverpeaks, had been quiet for much of the journey. Upon learning that the plans weren't what she had been told, the mesmer finally spoke up. "The Eye of the North will always be a haven for you! They haven't forgotten what you have done for Ascalon and Tyria, even if the king has!"

"And make the Eye of the North an even more enticing target for Charr warbands _not_ led by Pyre Fierceshot?" Coran snorted. "Look at Grazz... even he's cringing at the idea. To take up residence at the Eye of the North would almost certainly result in outright civil war among the Charr."

Gwen huffed, "And that's a _bad_ thing?"

Grazz had grown more accustomed to using his mechanical voice box, although he still wasn't keen on using it more than absolutely necessary. This was one of those times. "Myself, and Pyre's warband by extension, is currently honor bound to protect Coran and his descendants. Any Charr attack on them is considered an attack on us, and would quickly suck in every warband of fighting strength. A civil war among the Charr would rival your own Guild Wars in its severity and scope. And... considering what I personally know of the weapons of the Shamans _still unused_, resting within their covens and temples, it would likely rival the _aftermath_ as well."

"Oh." Gwen squeaked. "That bad, huh?"

Finally Devona had her say, "So, if we aren't traveling for Kryta, where _are_ we going?"

Coran turned his head to the northwest. "Roughly fifteen years ago, the historian Durmand set up a small archive for his knowledge tucked into Shiverpeaks, to prevent his works and findings from being seized and destroyed by the White Mantle. He's since been welcomed back in Kryta by the new queen, but he has kept and tried to maintain the repository as a haven for scholars anywhere they fear repression or as a neutral site for learned men and women to convene without the meddling influence of national boundaries."

He looked down, and gently poked the fire with a stick. "He's been trying to get someone to work as a permanent caretaker of the repository for some time... I suspect he won't protest me taking up the billet. That's where _I_ am going. The rest of you, of course, would be relieved of any duties to me upon my arrival at that location."

Devona scoffed, and slid closer to her husband's side. "I'm certainly not here out of duty. You aren't getting rid of me that easily."

Mhenlo and Cynn shared a silent conversation, then the lady spoke for the both of them, "We both kinda like the idea of somewhere free of political influence and bickering. Besides, we've followed Devona for nearly a decade now. Neither of us feel the need to break that habit."

"This is the sort of place that suits me." Aidan added, "Not some stuffy Krytan city. I find this option much more appealing."

Grazz didn't need to say anything. Nothing Coran would say or order was going to get the Charr to break his oath to Pyre and the Fierce clan.

Gwen, however, had a slightly different inclination, "My duty still lies with the Ebon Vanguard, but I am certain Captain Langmar will want to maintain some contact with the last surviving heir to the throne, so I will likely be ordered to check in when I am able."

"Well... that likely won't be an issue once I have concluded my business here." Coran stated cryptically. "Which actually brings me to that order of business, as there is one slight detour I wish to make before we move on."

Devona asked, "What is that?"

"I wish to visit the place where my brother died." Then after thinking, added, "His mortal life, I should say. It would be far too troublesome a detour to work our way to the Ring of Fire."

* * * * *

The Frost Gate had taken a beating to begin with during the flight of the Ascalon refugees. Time and winter had taken a further toll, to the point where much of the battleground was collapsed or blown over with snow and ice. Even the thick, imposing stone of the gate itself had broken in half... one part still hanging from now rusted chains... the other shattered rubble strewn about the valley floor.

But Devona wouldn't have needed any landmark to know where the elder prince had fallen. She knew that place in her bones... watching helplessly as Dagmar Stonepate's avalanche had trapped Rurik under a tree... a tree that now lied in two pieces, neatly cut down the middle, the edges burned from what must have been from Khilbron's undead resurrection of the man.

"I always said he was a damned fool... charging recklessly into any combat... causing no ends of grief to anyone damn stupid enough to follow him..." Coran began, betraying his deeply buried remorse for his brother's death with a mist of tears that escaped his efforts towards composure. "But he deserved better than to die here. I suppose, at the very least, he died how he lived; bravely and without regret."

He took a deep breath to gather himself, and took his spear from his back. "It's how Coran will die... without regret."

Devona didn't like the sound of that. "Dearest... what are you..."

"From this point on, Coran, son of Adelbern, prince of Ascalon, lives no longer. As far as the world will know, he joined his brother in death upon the Shiverpeaks."

Coran then jammed his spear into the icy ground, the crackle of static electricity momentarily kicking up a plume of steam before its owner released the weapon and stepped away.

"Now, I'm done." He said flatly, "I apologize for any delay."


	66. Epilogue  Part 1

**Epilogue: Part One**

He could hear his Auntie Gwen calling for him from the bottom of the rise, and pouted. Auntie Gwen wasn't around all that often, and so he didn't want to be wasting time... how could grown-ups be so slow?

He popped his head over the steep rise, and called out, "Up here!"

Gwen was literally right below him by about ten feet. She put her hands on her hips, and said, "Allister, you promised your mommy you'd be good."

"I am, auntie!" Allister protested, "But I want to show you the garden before you have to go again!"

"I'm not leaving tonight, kiddo, we have plenty of time." The mesmer answered. "I'm gonna find a way up. You don't move from that spot, understand?"

Allister nodded in affirmation, and retreated from the edge to wait. However, patience was like a fine wine... it came with age. Thus, three year olds generally were not known for their patience... little Allister was no exception.

"Auntie Gwen! Are you coming?" The boy called out. A rustle through the evergreens ahead of him caught his attention... a rustling followed by a series of clicking or clacking sounds. Curiosity getting the better of him, he started to approach the grove.

He hadn't even taken four steps before a hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back. This proved to be a good thing, as the pack of mandragor that burst from the foilage would have ripped the child to pieces within seconds had he continued his path.

"Shadow!" Allister yelped in glee. He could only remember seeing the black robed figure once before, a vague memory from a period where memories are scant in a child's mind. An unclear promise from his shadow, to always be there when he was in danger.

The figure moved with the very shadows that bore its name, flashing into striking distance of the mandragors, its scythe moving nimbly from its back to its hands and to the attack. One vicious downward chop delivered enough of a mortal wound to the Scavenger that emerged that it was no longer a threat, flopping wildly and bleeding profusely on the cold ground.

That prompted the rest of the pack to turn their attention to the near and present threat, rather than the largely defenseless young. The Ulcerous Mandragor attempted to shield itself as it sensed the robed opponent near it, but never got time to finish the attempt, it's carapace and concentration shattered by a swift lateral swipe from the spinning humanoid creature.

Shadow ground its left heel into the icy ground, ceasing its spin, and using that abrupt stop in momentum to fling it's scythe through the air, and into the head of a Mystic Mandragor that had turned in an attempt to attack Allister, thinking the shrouded human was occupied.

Another shadow step brought Shadow to its weapon again, drawing the scythe out of its now dying victim, and down in a decapitating chop upon the last mandragor.

By that time, the sounds of battle had drawn more of the large insect beasts, but had also drawn reinforcements from the priory as well. Gwen and Grazz had arrived first, getting a brief glimpse of Shadow before the robed figure vanished from sight for good, before the remainder of the support could arrive.

Cynn's arrival was marked by the flash and ignition of fire upon most everything flammable. Eve's proximity was proven by the remains of the slain mandragor stirring back to animated undeath. The whistle of arrows betrayed Aidan's position... and everyone became aware of Devona's presence the moment she began crushing every non-human thing she could get her hammer on for _daring_ to attack her son.

It didn't take much for the mandragor to decide this food wasn't worth trying to aquire. What had seemed to be easy prey had turned into a massacre of their numbers, and fell into frantic retreat from the humans.

"Mooooommieeee!" Allister complained as Devona gathered up the boy, and buried her chin in his hair, picking him up off the ground and hugging him fiercely.

"Don't ever run away from anyone!" The warrior woman scolded. "It's dangerous out here alone!"

"But I wasn't alone!" Allister protested. "Shadow was with me! Shadow is always with me!"

Devona had entertained Allister's imaginary friend... finding it very helpful in dispelling the child's worries from the nighttime jitters, but realized now was the time to put her foot down. "Young man, while I am sure Shadow is very brave against the monsters in the closet, I doubt she would be much use against beasts like these. Now, you get back to the Priory before you make your punishment worse."

"But mommieeee... I wanted to show Auntie Gwen my garden!"

"Auntie Gwen will be here tomorrow, and if you don't cause any more trouble, we'll all go to the garden then. Now march, young man!"

Aidan spoke up before Devona could walk out of earshot. "The mandragor are getting bolder as of late, and seem to be moving south. There might be a hive around here. Gwen, Grazz, and I will scout around and see if we can find it."

The warrior nodded in acknowledgment, Cynn taking her leave to attend to her own child who she had left in quite a rush after the sounds of battle had reached her ears. Granted, Mhenlo had stayed behind with their daughter, but Cynn had gained quite the motherly side since the birth of her first child, and did not want to leave her little darling's side for terribly long... determined not to be distant and aloof like her mother was.

Eve gave the area the once over, and decided there wasn't any more fun to be found at this point, and forlornly slouched off after Cynn, but taking a right rather than a left at the base of the rise, where she had constructed her own little dwelling and "research" site a year before.

Once it was only the three "scouts" remaining on the cliff, a woman's voice issued from the trees, "I've already taken care of the hive. But it is true that they are migrating further south than usual. I'll keep an eye on it when I can."

"There's something going on further north." Gwen said, shivering from a combination of the cold and the uncertain dread that she had been feeling whenever she went out into the wilderness areas of the Shiverpeaks. "I don't know what... but something... is slowly building out there."

"It's not just the mandragor, either." Aidan replied, "Norn scouts are reporting that the Kodan are coming closer to shore and further south than ever before. Not in any large numbers, but my friends among the Norn tell me they too are feeling... something... off about the northern reaches. Jora tells me that they've had more 'Nornbears' emerging, and from Norn that are further and further away from Drakkar Lake."

"I know that there's four of us on guard when I'm around, but I'm not all that often." Gwen said. "I'm not sure the three of you will be enough."

"I'm making arrangements to solve that problem as we speak." The voice answered. "Reinforcements should be arriving on that score."

"Who?" Aiden asked.

"That's a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know yet." The hidden woman retorted. "Now, I suggest you all stop milling about in one place lest someone down below starts getting suspicious."

"Grazz, Gwen, get going." Aiden ordered. "I'm not quite done here."

The Charr and the mesmer grinned knowingly as they took two separate paths into the foilage. Once alone, Aidan stepped forward so he was out of sight of the Priory and said, "Alright, you've had your fun, now get out here."

"You can't order me around." The hiding woman replied.

"Now." Aidan insisted sternly.

Like a petulant child, the cloaked figure known as Shadow reluctantly emerged from the trees. "Fine. Here I am. What do you want?"

Aidan put his left hand on her shoulder, and attempted to push down her cowl with the right. "You know what I want."

"Don't." She replied. "You know I don't like you seeing my face."

With a sly grin, he said, "I would think having seen a lot more than your face several times by now that you wouldn't be so shy about it."

There was a resigned huff, and finally a reluctant capitulation. "Very well... if you must."

The cowl finally dropped to Shadow's neck, and Aidan smiled in approval as he admired the almond skin and striking Canthan features, despite her self-consciousness about the badly burned and scarred left side of her face, scarring that he knew from personal experience covered much of her left side... scarring that she didn't attempt to have healed because she felt she should look just as ugly on the outside as she felt on the inside.

He felt she failed miserably on that score. Sure, it wasn't what either of them had dreamed for... but it was good enough.

She pretended to passively accept his short kiss on her lips, and said with a hint of impatience, "Are you done? I have a meeting I must attend promptly."

"So I take it we're not meeting after nightfall?"

Yue paused, "Now, I didn't say _that_..."

The ranger released the... Aidan paused a moment, then asked as he pointed to the scythe on her back, "Since when did you become a Dervish?"

"I've known some dervish skills for a while. Learned them in Atal Ra during my stay... I found some of the skills complimented my traditional assassin's training nicely." Yue replied. "Lately... it felt right to use the weapon as well."

"I like the look." Aidan joked. "Black hooded figure wielding a scythe, all serious, ill-tempered and misunderstood, threshing foes like grain."

The assassin snorted, and lifted her cowl back over her head, "Right... I'm just a damned grim reaper or something. Now, I have to go." Yue then whirled about and retreated back into the forest, but not before tossing back a flippant, "I'll see you tonight. Don't be late."

She disappeared back into the forest, keeping her distance from Grazz and Pyre as they "scouted" the area. A half hour later, she was at a distance where she felt it was safe to have her meeting.

"It's clear." Yue declared, dropping to a crouch next to a nearby tree, where another secretive figure stood on the other side of the thick trunk. "I understand you know most of the people at the Priory, though."

"I do." The aged male replied, "And they think they know me. Nevertheless, I prefer to remain out of sight, much like you, Yue."

The assassin grinned, "I won't ask how you figured out my name, Jurah."

That gave the Master of Whispers pause. "Well, since it's clear we are already well ahead of the children's games, I suppose we can get down to business. I suspect it pertains to the child you rescued earlier."

"Allister, son of Devona and the supposedly deceased Coran... heir to the throne of Ascalon." Yue confirmed.

"I'm sure... I am told that Coran wishes for his true identity, and the heritage of his family to be secret. Besides, King Adelbern banished the whole lot of them." The Master said dismissively.

"The 'banishment' was for show, to keep the new royal family from the dangers of the escalating Charr war." Yue countered. "Considering that the human kingdom has lost several key battles already, I can understand why. If Ascalon holds out until the end of this decade, I'll be impressed."

"Don't underestimate the resolve of Ascalon." The Master of Whispers challenged, "It'll see the end of this decade, and possibly the next as well. Just you watch."

Turning the topic back on task, Yue then said, "As for Coran's wishes... I think this is one case where he is making both the right _and_ the wrong choice. Perhaps it is a good thing for the world to think the line of Doric in Ascalon has ended for now. But... I can't put my finger on it... but I don't think that knowledge should be lost forever."

Yue turned her head northward. "There's something building out there, in the wilds... and not just to the north. It's all around us. The death of Bhu'kahuh has emboldened something else, something even older in this world. It's growing in strength... I don't know when... I don't know how... but it's coming. The knowledge that a noble line of a once noble land still lives... I think it will be good for the world of the future."

The Master of Whispers pondered this, "I see. You aren't the only one to feel the ill omens, my girl. As for the fate of Ascalon's royal family, I'm inclined to agree. I've been looking to expand the Order of Whispers... this seems like as good of a place as any... on one condition."

"Which is?"

"I want you to lead the chapter."

Yue raised her eyebrows as the Master of Whispers spoke again. "You already have a leadership structure in place. You already know how to move and act unseen. You already are at least passably familiar with the circles of influence and power on this continent. It would take too much time for me to train one of my inner circle to the task... and besides... I'm retired."

"Yeah, and Grenth has tired of gathering souls."

The Master of Whispers stepped away from the tree. "A squad from my order will be sent to the Priory with as much haste as they can. If questioned, their purpose is that I have decided the history and documents to be worth preservation... I'll even use it to store information the Order has collected as well... it will kill two birds with one stone."

"You get another location to harbor your secrets, and preserve the line of Ascalon. Clever." Yue noted, "So, when should I begin recruiting?"

But by that point, the Master of Whispers had completed his business, and had left as silently as he came. "I'll take that to mean as of now." Yue groused to herself, and stood. She had a lot of work to do...


	67. Epilogue  Part 2

_Author's Note: And with this, the story ends._

_If you like what you've read here, I invite you to visit my website (which can be found in my profile), where you can find some of my original writing, as well as the novella that inspired this sort of crossover story._

_I look forward to seeing you all there._

**Epilogue: Part Two**

"Your father should be home some time today. If you're good, I'll tell him what you did." Devona chided as she escorted Allister to his room.

She didn't misspeak. Coran had the tendency to be more lenient towards their son, and would more often than not convince her to lessen any punishments, citing such 'developmental behaviors' dealing with young children... something about at Allister's age, the threat of punishment and the initial punishment are much more effective towards correcting behavior due to the still developing mental and cognitive connections in a young child's memory than prolonged punishment.

One day, she'd have to learn what he was talking about. She found it hard to be stern when it seemed like he knew more about child rearing than her.

Said scholar was supposedly on the return trip from the Eye of the North, the most recent of several trips. Each time, he returned with a smile on his face, clearly pleased with himself and whatever he had discovered. She cattily wondered why he hadn't chose to have them live there in the first place if it was so damned interesting.

Devona shook her head of that somewhat spiteful thought... it wasn't particularly fair, and she understood why the Eye of the North would not have been a suitable place to stay, much less start a family. And she had to admit, this part of the world was fairly peaceful save from the occasional hive of Mandragors moving southward.

She also knew that the only reason her husband went this time was because Gwen had strongly suggested he do so. She didn't know many details, but from what she had gleaned, the Eye of the North went further down than anyone expected... a team found several floors below, and something down there that bore the name "Doric." Needless to say, something buried below a construction that supposedly predated mankind, bearing the name of a human king, was a curiosity worthy of study.

Devona worried about him when he went on such scholarly exploits; even though he had done them most of his adult life, and was in some way better guarded now than he was ever before. There were so many things that could happen.

She found herself standing outside his study, where she usually went whenever she had such worries. Devona found it eased her nerves. Resolving to keep an ear open in case Allister tried to sneak out of his room, Devona slid open the study door, and stepped inside.

Coran (with the help of everyone) kept the Priory in pristine condition and in perfect order, both for appearances and for easy access to information for anyone visiting. Which made it such delicious irony that his personal study was a minor disaster. Paper, either flat, folded, or crumpled, cluttered both desks and the floor, along with pencils, folders, parchment, tapestry shards, artifacts, relics, etc...

To be fair, she was partially at fault, as she was not the easiest student, prone to having fits of frustration in her own studies, and throwing whatever she had in her hand rather violently during said fits. Coran often wondered if she acted the same way apprenticing as a warrior as she was when learning early mathematics. In truth, she had (and the walls of Barradin's training hall attested to that fact).

Devona stooped down to pick up a handful of pencils that were on the floor in a more traveled part of the floor when the noticed something out of place even for the usual mess. A very thick, black, leather-bound journal, worn with considerable age, and bearing the mark of the royal family of Ascalon on its cover; Coran's personal journal. He must have accidentally dropped it as he was leaving. Even at its current size, he normally took it with him whenever he left the Priory for an extended period of time, presumably to take notes on what he had found, but she also knew it contained many of his private thoughts.

The warrior felt rather guilty just thinking about reading what her husband had written inside. While he had never forbidden her to read it, he had never exactly given his permission to do so either. But her curiosity to examine what innermost thoughts rested in his mind won out, and with a naughty grin, Devona snatched up the journal, sat down at the chair in front of her desk, and opened it to the first page.

Devona hadn't learned to read or write until she was twelve, and was tapped to begin her career in the Ascalon military. Coran had clearly been taught such literacy at a much younger age, as the first entry described his thoughts after they had first met. She had been four, he must have been five or six.

_I met a girl today, a daughter of my father's friend. Her name is Devona. My father seemed a little too happy to see us meet. I am a little scared of that, but Devona is nice anyway. She likes to hit me, but it doesn't hurt too much. A very strange girl._

He thought _she_ was strange? She had thought _him_ odd... wondering where all the books were, and not the least bit interested in her hammer, so she tapped him with it to get his attention. Her mother had been absolutely mortified, although both Adelbern and her father had laughed quite happily at the exchange. It was one of the last memories she had of her father in fact... until she finally met his spirit within the Hall of Heroes...

Shaking the recollection out of her mind, she dove back into Coran's journal, skipping the next few pages, as they held little interest to her until she noticed her name again.

_I learned today that Devona and I were betrothed by our fathers. I want to be mad about it; I promised I wouldn't let myself be traded off like a dolyak to the noble with the largest dowry like my brother was to that screeching harpy Althea... but I really can't manage the anger. I like Devona, she isn't fake or prissy or irritatingly proper. She's a nice girl, and seems to actually like me for who I am. I can tell, she's the only person other than my brother and sometimes my father who calls me just Coran. I'm not a prince to her... I'm just me, and I like that._

She started to close the journal, rather embarrassed. Even though he was talking about her, and he hadn't written anything yet that he hadn't actually said to her face, it still was his very personal thoughts... she shouldn't... but...

Maybe if she didn't read the stuff about her, it wouldn't be so embarrassing. She turned three more pages, and randomly picked something.

_I've found myself wondering... it's clear even to my eyes the resemblance between the feral cats of Ascalon and Tyria and the Charr. It's quite evident they share some sort of distant kinship. Other animals in the world are the same way... they bear many similarities with each other. So, why doesn't anything in the world look like us? I am told of a people called the Norn who live far to the north, that somewhat look like us, only much larger, but why doesn't any more primitive creature have features like us humans? I am told there are great apes in the jungles west of Kryta. Perhaps if I ever get the chance, I can see if they fit the missing link._

Devona had never thought about that before, and found herself doing so now, and quickly found the same curiosity as her husband did all those years ago. She had been to the Maguuma Jungle, and seen the apes Coran wrote of, and certainly didn't think they looked _anything_ like humankind. It was true that the Norn did, but even then, Devona never thought of them as being like humans... something about them seemed far too different. The closest she could think of was the more humanoid demons in Cantha, and they spawned from the Mists.

Her interest piqued, she started skimming through the journal to see if he made any further discoveries on that score. She fought herself away from reading too deeply into his thoughts on his and Devona's first kiss (she vividly blushed as she hastily turned the page), and finally, far near the end of the journal, found what she was looking for.

This entry had been made well into his learning at Atal Ra, obvious in the shift in complexity of the language, using words that she only had the basest understanding of.

_Genetic data sampling has confirmed a hypothesis of mine from before I ever took formal learning with the scholars of the academy. The feral cats of Tyria, like the Melandru's Stalker, possess a startling number of similar gene pairs to the Charr. In fact, roughly 99.6% of the protein chains between the Stalker and the Charr are identical. That such small differences in genetic material could produce such drastic results had initially made me think perhaps my theory indeed had merit._

_Further tests with other species confirmed this hypothesis. The Asura carry a 99.6% genetic similarity to the Dredge. Surprisingly to me, the Dwarves are 99.3% identical to the Norn, and 99.7% identical to the preserved remains of the Giganticus Lupicus. The Tengu are 99.8% identical to the Long Armed Bird of Prey of Cantha. Even among obviously different racial families, the similarities are quite high. A Charr is 87.3% identical to a Norn. A Dwarf is 89.6% identical to an Asura. My theory is that all life on Tyria shares a common ancestral bond, perhaps millions upon millions of years ago, contrary to the assertions of the priests of the gods of my kind._

_Which is actually where things become much more curious, for when I say "all life on Tyria", there is actually one very notable exception. Humans._

_Humans have virtually nothing in common with the great apes of the Maguuma Jungle, matching only 17.8% of the genetic pairs, and none in any consistent sequence from sample to sample. The closest match among any life form on Tyria is actually a plant, of all things... the Isis Flower, in which 43.1% of the protein chains are similar in composition and arrangement. Of interest, the Isis Flower and its colored variants are as drastically different from most other plants of Tyria as humans are from the animals._

_From this, I have come to a conclusion that doesn't even make much sense to me, but the evidence does not lie. Wherever the human species originated, I do not believe it originated anywhere on this world._

Devona blinked. Surely she misunderstood something, her knowledge of what Coran was writing about clearly was not up to snuff. How could humans have not originated from Tyria? Did he mean they came from the Mists? She supposed it would explain why the demons felt familiar... but that couldn't be... could it? Perhaps a later entry could offer more insight.

It wasn't until near the current end of the journal that she found something that might have something to do with it. This was very recent, written shortly after one of his visits to the Eye of the North.

_It's interesting to me that the Ebon Vanguard aren't interested about their home, because if it is truly as old as is claimed, it could offer many answers to questions most of us don't even realize need to be asked._

_The Eye of the North has stood for as long as any race can remember. The Norn who lived all around it saw nothing of note, and why should they? It was just a ruin.  
__  
But, in the presence of humans, this supposedly lifeless ruin behaved far differently. Firstly, the dimensions of the Eye of the North suit humans far better than any other sentient race of Tyria. Where Norn or Charr have to turn slightly to fit through the halls, humans move through comfortably, and the natural ledges and shelves along the walls, while far too high-setting for an Asura, are by and large of a comfortable waist height for humans. It is my belief that the Eye of North was either built by, or built for, my kind._

That couldn't be, Devona thought. The Eye is far older than humans. How could it have been built either by _or_ for beings that didn't _exist_ yet?

_But most telling to my theory is that the scrying pool within the Hall of Monuments reacts to human contact, and only human contact. The blood of Doric seems to be the trigger; for when I meditate before the pool, I have access that no one else has ever had to the extent I have them. For example, I can see the present comings and goings of people thousands upon thousands of miles away, and do so consciously with little effort, unlike the heroes who had managed to activate the pool in the past._

_I even see replays of past events, although there is a point where the images become garbled and hazy, like the scrying pool is somehow damaged. I interpret that point to be roughly two thousand years in the past, a point that from what I can discern coincides almost perfectly with the arrival of Bhu'kahuh._

Devona shuddered at the invocation of that name, then gathered herself and read on.

_I can't help but think I see those events of the past because they hold omens for our future. I see a great conflict between the Great Old One and equally great beasts... much like the murals within the Old One's chamber reflected. And like those murals, the beasts, great dragons unlike anything ever seen beyond the old tomes of the Dwarves, aren't dead. Not even Bhu'kahuh could kill them, he could only put them into a deep torpor._

_In these visions, the beasts have names, some of which coincide with the names within the old dwarf tomes; like Zhaitan, and Jormag... names which never appear in the tomes, like Primordius and Kralkatorrik. There is a fifth... but the vision is too garbled for me to clearly understand its name._

_These dragons are not dead, and I dread that perhaps the ill feelings and deep sense of growing evil are the passive influence of these ancient dragons once more stirring to consciousness. The Great Destroyer waking, what I now know to be a general of Primordius, suggests to me this is indeed the case._

_I don't know how long we have before these nightmare creatures fully awaken, but I am certain they will. Due to this development... I have once again invoked the knowledge deep within my mind, and have stored it within the scrying pool of the Eye of the North, despite all my promises that the pieces of the Eternal Alchemy I uncovered would never be constructed by the hands of mortals again. I offer my prayers to Kormir that if humans, or anyone, can extract that information from the Eye, that they understand the frightening, god-like power they will unleash._

There was a cough over Devona's left shoulder, and she startled to the point where she dropped Coran's journal. Her husband was leaning over her with a thin-lipped smile, and he said, "By the time I realized it wasn't in my pack, I was already at the Eye, and it seemed rather silly at that point to go back and get it. I'm glad I merely left it here rather than lost it somewhere in the Shiverpeaks."

Coran didn't seem upset that Devona had been reading it, he merely picked it up and put it on his desk. "Fortunately for me, what I found this time I wouldn't need to write down."

Devona then became aware that was holding something under his arm, an object that made a loud metallic thunk when he dropped it on the desk. "What is that?" She asked.

"The object bearing the name of my ancestor. Captain Langmar figured I might as well keep it, as it obviously belonged to my family, and was useless to her and the rest of the Vanguard."

Devona stood, and walked over to her husband's desk. From above, it looked almost exactly like the scrying pool of the Eye of the North, only in miniature. However, the liquid within the pool was frozen in place, its surface cracked in many places.

"The way I see it, if I could ever figure out how to repair this thing, it might work in much the same way as the larger scrying pool in the Eye, although likely to a much lesser degree." Coran said, "It'll be something I toy with, but even with my knowledge, I hold little hope of ever actually accomplishing the task."

But Devona was fixated on the golden plate somehow affixed to its side, it indeed legibly bore the name of the ancient human king despite its tarnished surface, but also further words, some that were familiar, but many that were completely alien.

The first part was quite clear, if the usage a bit unusual, "Jamison Doric, Admiral."

The second part held no meaning to her whatsoever, "Terran Federation Colony Ship; Designation: TF-1103; Redemption."


End file.
